A Kanker at Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
by MartyMcfly1989
Summary: Marie Kanker; Juvenile Delinquent, Trailer Trash and...Wizard in Training? Yeah it was a surprise to her as well. After Ten years of being part of the Kanker Sisters she's suddenly all on her own, in a new school, far from home living in a co-ed dorm with nothing but the clothes on her back and money left to her by her mysterious father, but hey it should be fun, right?
1. Another Day at the Cul-de-Sac

**Another Day at the Cul-de-Sac**

Life at the Park and Flush Trailer Park is never an easy one. It is a hive of low-income wage workers, high school dropouts and meth addicts sharing space with moonshiners, immigrant farm hands and the financially destitute. In essence, not the best place to raise a child, let alone three of them. But Barbra Kanker didn't have much of a choice, it was the cheapest place she could afford and still make it on time to her three different jobs. Barbra was a single mother who worked varying jobs as a waitress, an auto mechanic and a night nurse in order to support her family and keep a roof over their head. This meant that she had to work long hours. This meant that she was rarely home. This meant that her daughters had to raise themselves and make their own decisions most of the time. And sometimes those decisions were rather, problematic.

"RUN DOUBLE-D! THEY'RE GAINING!"

"THE DEMONS OF THE DEEP WILL NOT SUCK OUT ED'S BRAIN!"

Two prepubescent boys were running through a construction site as if a pack of wolves were at their heels, their cries filling the air as they twisted through the incomplete houses, construction equipment and small hills of dirt and gravel. One of the boys was short with pink skin, scheming midnight blue eyes and three long strands of black hair slicked back with cheap Axle Grease. He wore a bright yellow shirt with a singular red stripe running vertically down the right side and a purple collar, a pair of baggy sky blue jeans and red sneakers. Next to him was a taller boy with sickly yellow skin, dull looking brown eyes, red hair cut in a crew cut and a single black unibrow that seemed to float off his head. He wore a short sleeved red and white striped shirt under a green jacket, a pair of indigo blue jeans and worn out black shoes. Though different in looks and personality, they were united in two ways; their names and the looks of terror etched on their faces.

The boys scrambled up on top of one of the hills of dirt and quickly looked back, their faces consumed with worry and fear. "Where is he Ed?! They could be on us any minute!" the shorter boy whispered and shouted at the same time. "There he is Eddy!" the boy known as Ed exclaimed, pointing one of his fingers towards a figure running around a cement mixer. Though running is probably an over exaggeration. Jogging would be more accurate, or speed walking. "Curse my weak and skinny physic!" wheezed the figure as he came more into view. The figure was a third prepubescent boy around the same age as the other two with tan skin, intelligent jade eyes and a black sock shaped hat with two white stripes running up each side that completely covered his head. He wore an orange t-shirt and purple shorts with blue sneakers, an odd combination that would make anyone who knew anything about color balance quietly approve before turning away in shame. "Hurry Double-D, before the sirens eat your brain, for yours is the largest and most delicious of them all!" shouted Ed, his eyes wild with panic. Eddy, with panic and anger consuming his own eyes, grabbed Ed's mouth and yanked him down to eye level. "Are you crazy ya big dolt?! Your shouting will lead them right to us!" whispered Eddy. He then looked back and saw a cloud of dust coming over the horizon, the sight of which caused Eddy to freeze and his mouth to droop, as if he was trying to shrink in on himself. "We're too late." Eddy croaked. "COOTIES BAD FOR ED!" Ed shouted as he leaped into the air before grabbing Eddy and taking off down the back of the hill and sprinting towards the forest beyond. "GUYS, WAIT FOR ME!" shouted Double-D, trying desperately to catch up with his friends. Chancing a glance behind him, he saw a sight that filled every fiber of his being with dread.

The position where his friends were made the details of what was in the cloud shrouded to them, but since Double-D was closer, he was able to see them in crisp and terrifying detail. The cloud of dust was trailing behind three prepubescent girls, each of them sprinting like a cheetah after their prey. Leading the pack was a tall girl with curly red hair that covered her eyes, but the smirk on her face clearly showed her malicious intent. She wore a white sleeveless shirt with red polka dots and turquoise skinny jeans and worn dark blue sneakers. To her left was a shorter girl with long blond hair, excited hazel eyes and buck teeth. She wore a light gray shirt that showed her midriff, red shorts and brown boots caked in mud. But the one that brought near paralysing fear to Double-D's heart was the girl on the right. She had sea blue hair that covered her right eye, but the uncovered left eye, framed in eye liner the same color as her hair, was cunning and wicked, the grey iris boring into him as if he were little more than a fine cut of beef, a slight sneer mixed perfectly with an evil grin adorning her face. Like the red haired girl she wore a sleeveless shirt, unlike her the shirt was as black as oil and was paired with olive green hunting pants and black boots. Double-D was very familiar with those faces as they had tormented him, his friends and the other kids in the Cul-de-Sac for a whole year by this point. Individually they were known as Lee, May and Marie but they were most feared as a collective, as simply The Kanker Sisters.

"Come on Girls!" the red haired Lee trumpetted, "Our Boyfriends are gonna have some fun with us tonight!" "I can't wait to show Big Ed my chicken bone collection!" May exclaimed with eagerness and glee. Double-D started running faster, but he knew it was futile. The Kanker were more athletic than he was and thus much faster than him. He wished that he was with his friends now, but both Ed and Eddy were probably either halfway back to the Cul-de-Sac by now or hiding in one of the trees deep in the woods where the Kankers were unlikely to find them. If he wanted to escape them, he would have to make more intelligent maneuvers.

Double-D quickly reached the tree line and started slipping his way between the gnarled roots of the trees, trying to find a ditch or river bank to might be able to hide in. He kept running, aware of the increasing sounds of crunching leaves and branches as the Kankers plowed their way through the undergrowth. "Oh Oven Mitt!" a scarchy, almost boyish voice echoed through the air as Double-D ducked underneath another tree branch. "I have a special gift for you!" Double-D shivered slightly as he tore his way through a patch of wild raspberry bushes, knowing that the voice was that of 'his' Kanker, Marie. For some reason after he, Ed and Eddy first met the Kankers, the three of them have been continuously hounded by Kankers as they continuously called them their boyfriends. Every other day without fail the Kanker sisters would chase after them, sexually molest them with kissing and leave them humiliated in some way. Sometimes the Kankers would mix it up by forcing them to wait on them hand and foot, sometimes they would just kidnap them for a few hours of 'fun', but either way they would inevitably find themselves walking home with their clothes ripped and torn and their faces covered in red lipstick, angry and withdrawn. They each had their own, Eddy had the violent and brutish Lee, Ed had the doppy and invasive May and he had the manipulative and possessive Marie. And he knew that she was possessive as earlier during the fifth year graduation dance he had been able to score a dance was Nazz, the kindest and hottest girl in the school and his crush. He wasn't able to completely enjoy it however as Marie ended up destroying the school gym and the school itself in a fit of jealous rage. If that was any indication of his future relationship status than he might as well forget about dating until he was at least in college.

Unfortunately Double-D was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to notice that large root that he ended up tripping over, nor the steep hill that he ended up tumbling down, grunts of pain punctuating every bounce down the hill before landing at the bottom. A moan of agony escaped his mouth as Double-D lay there, pain shooting through his body like an adrenaline shot. He tried to slowly get up, but fell back down, gasping as agony seared through his left shoulder blade. He turned over onto his back and looked at his arm. The arm wasn't broken from what he can see. He tried to move the limb. He failed. With stark realization, Double-D knew that he had dislocated his shoulder. He lay there staring up at the sky, now resigned to his fate as the sounds of footsteps quickly getting louder and closer beat against his ear drums. And then the wicked smiles of the three Kanker sisters filled his vision.

"Well Oven Mitt, you gave me quite a workout back there," Marie said, panting slightly every couple of words, "but I always end up catching ya in the end." "Same thing with our other boy friends." Exclaimed May in a sort of intense glee. "Speaking of which, Marie, May and I are gonna keep looking for our stud muffins, meet us back at the house when you're done here," said Lee. "Take as long as you like." as she walked away before jogging back into the trees, May following close behind her. Marie waved lazily at their shrinking forms before turning towards the prone body of Double-D, her face glowing with anticipation. She straddled his body, his face drenched in nervous sweat as she invaded his personal space for at least the 186th time. "Now Oven Mitt, just lay there like the good little dwib you are, I want to make this nice and intimate." Petrified with terror, Double-D almost completely forgot about his dislocated shoulder, that is until Marie put her right hand heavily down on it. "YAAHHHH!" Double-D's scream of pain along with the arching of his back and kicking out of his right knee surprised Marie as she was forcefully thrown off him. Clutching her side in slight pain, Marie turned to Double-D, anger blazing in her eyes, only for the anger to dissipate as she saw him, clutching his shoulder in clear agony, tears trickling slowly down his cheeks as he hissed in pain. Her intentions temporarily forgot, she quickly crawled to his side, her face showing something that Double-D rarely saw from her; concern. "Oven Mitt are you alright? What happened?" As she asked that question, a flash of fury passed through Double-D's eyes. 'Simple you complete terror, I nearly broke my shoulder blade because I was trying to get away from you!' thought Double-D as a feeling of loathing passed through his body, but it soon passed, as Double-D looked into her eyes and saw genuine worry in her eyes. At that moment he found that he couldn't stay angry with her, no matter how much he wanted to. "Curse my gentlemanly disposition" he muttered before taking a deep breath. "I tripped over a tree root at the top of the hill and dislocated my shoulder on the way down." Double-D choked out, grimacing slightly as another spasm of pain shot through him. Marie look at him at first with…'was that guilt' he thought, but then the look quickly went away and she then looked at him with a bit of resolve. She looked away and found a large tree, nodded and then turned back to him. "Do you think you can walk?" Double-D looked at her in slight confusion before nodding. "Okay, I want you to give me your right arm so that I can get you up, then I want you to drape it around my shoulder." Double-D looked at her in suspicion, wondering if she would take advantage of him here, then his arm spasmed again. 'Well, nothing ventured nothing gained as John Heywood would say' "Okay, I trust you." Marie seemed to freeze, as if she was stunned, but when Double-D extended his right arm, she shook herself out of it before grabbing his hand, pulling him to his feet and draping his right arm on her shoulder and guided him towards the tree.

As she rested him against the tree, Double-D caught a small flash of regret on her face before she moved to the left side of his body and to the edge of his view. "Okay, I would say that this won't hurt much, but we both know that would be a lie." She then grabbed a small stick and showed it to him. "Alright, I'm going to need you to put this in your mouth and bite down as hard as you can." Double-D looked at the stick in disgust. "I'm not putting that in my mouth! Don't you know how much bacteria there is that could harm you?! For all I know some animals covered it with urine and fecal matter!" Marie shot a frustrated glare at him. "I'm sorry, do you want to bite your tongue?" Quickly realizing that that might happen, Double-D reluctantly put the stick in his mouth and clamped down. "Just so you know, after I'm done I'm going to ravish you without mercy." Double-D looked at her and caught a mischievous glint in her eye. "Wait, whaaaaaAAAAAAAGHHHH!" The sound of his shoulder being slammed back into place was drowned out by his scream of shocked pain as all feeling returned to his arm in an instant. As he breathed heavily between the stick, gasping as he recovered and the pain ebbed, Marie sat down next to him against the tree, a satisfied smirk on her face. "There you go." She spoke, almost giggling as she did. "It's all better." Double-D, remembering that he had a stick in his mouth, quickly spat it out before he glared at her in mock rage. "That was uncalled for." He said scathingly. "Hey it distracted you didn't it?" She replied cheekally, turning to him and flashing a coy smile as she did. Double-D turned away and grumbled a little, but he couldn't deny that she was in the right in this case.

The two of them fell into an uncomfortable silence, neither one of them willing or able to take any initiative in starting a conversation. Double-D sat there, holding his arm and stewing in a cold sweat. He was painfully aware that this was the longest that he had spent in the company of any of the Kanker sisters without being assaulted in anyway, let alone the sister that was clearly the most infatuated with him. He was afraid, yes but he was also a little confused, as he never believed any of the Kanker's to be altruistic. Eventually, this line of thought grew too troublesome for him to ignore. "Why did you do it?" he asked timidly. Marie looked at him in a sort of combination of shock and curiosity, as if she was surprised that she was speaking to him in a calm and even friendly manner. "What help you?" she asked before turning away to briefly think about it. "Believe it or not, my sisters and I don't want to hurt you." "Really, with all the bruises and cuts we suffered I never would expect that." Double-D replied, his voice oozing with sarcasm and dry monotone. "I meant severely hurt you." Marie snapped back, looking annoyed and slightly frustrated. "You know, broken bones, black eyes, twisted ankles, severe bleeding and concussions, stuff like that. Mom raised us better than that." She then turned away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, a look of sour bitterness crossing her face. "If we ended up doing something like that you would go to the hospital, your parents would find out, our mom would get sued to cover the medical expenses, our mom might lose her jobs, we'd have to sell the trailer and my sisters and I would go to juvie, and I DON'T want to go to juvie." "So it's less about being a decent human being and more about pragmatic selfishness, how thoughtful." Marie turned back to Double-D and stared into his judgemental eyes, sneering at him as she did. "Call it if you want, but I actually do care about you." Yes, just not enough to not invade my personal space, take no for an answer, not smash up my inventions and not cause any permanent emotional duress." "Oh screw you!" Marie then turned away seething, got up and walked away for a short while before sitting down behind another tree. Double-D sat there for a moment, brooding. 'Well what did she expect? That I would be thankful for what she did and throw myself on her while forgetting everything she and her sisters had done to us in the last year? Frankly, I'm surprised to didn't try to hightail it out of here while I had the chance.' 'Yes,' Replied a voice that sounded distinctly like his own. 'but did you really need to go for the low blow like that? She did help you put your arm back in, the least you could do was thank her.' Double-D looked down, regret washing over his face. 'You're right, she did the right thing and I attacked her for it. I should go over and apologize for this.' Slowly and reluctantly, Double-D stood up and walked over to the tree that Marie hid behind. As he walked around it he saw Marie sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, glowering at the ground in front of her. Double-D rubbed his face, steeling himself for the confrontation. "I'm sorry, you were helped me with an injury that you couldn't have known I would've gotten and I snapped at you because of it. It was wrong and I shouldn't have done that. Instead, I would like to thank you for helping me." Marie turned and stared up at him, softly smiled at him and then got to her feet. "Well thanks, I'm glad I could help but I feel that you could do something to make up for how mean you were to me." Double-D suddenly grew nervous, he didn't like the look she was giving him. "Well," he stammered, slowly backing away as he did. "What would you like for me to do?" Marie suddenly struck like a thunderbolt, grabbed him and pinned him against the tree. She smiled lustfully up at him, a gleam of triumph glissining in her eyes. "Well, remember when I said that I was going to ravish you without mercy?" Double-D stared back, petrified terror filling his every being. "Ye-yes?" "I wasn't lying."

Double-D stumbled out of the forest an hour later, mentally kicking himself for his foolishness. He had let his guard down for a single moment and she had taken full advantage of the situation to leave his face plastered with lipstick and kisses AGAIN. 'Curse my kind nature, it always seems to work against me at the worst possible moment.' Double-D grouchelly mussed as he walked down the alley way that lead back to the Cul-de-Sac, his shoulders slumped in tired exasperation. As he turned the corner onto the main street he saw his friends loitering under one of the light poles. Judging by the sheer amount of red lipstick on their faces and the angry look Eddy was giving Ed, their tormentors were able to eventually catch up with them. "Do I even want to know what happened to you guys?" Double-D asked as he approached them. Eddy quickly turned his face toward him, his face reddening with rage. "Monobrow here fell for one of their traps and I got caught when I was trying to stop him." "But Eddy," Ed moaned with a pleading look on his face. "There was a giant chicken in the middle of the field." "Yes, a FAKE chicken!" Screamed Eddy, looking as if he was one bad word away from trying to strangle him. "That chicken was so fake even a toddler would be able to tell the difference! I can't believe you fell for it, it was made out of cardboard and gum tack!" "Eddy," Double-D calmly spoke, putting his hand on Eddy's shoulder as he did so. "It already happened and there's nothing we can do about it now. It's best that you let this go." Eddy turned and glared at him, starting a short staring contest. But Double-D wouldn't flinch and eventually Eddy looked away. "Fine, whatever Sockhead. I just want to go home and figure out what kind of scam we should tryout tomorrow." he grumbled as he slouched his way up the street towards his pink house. "Okay then, good night Eddy." Double-D waved at his friend's retreating back before turning to his other friend, who was now smiling dumbly at him. "I better get home to, after all early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Goodbye Ed." "Farewell Double-D." said Ed before he turned and ran towards his grass green house, laughing jollily as he went. Double-D shook his head fondly and walked towards his teal blue house. As he opened the door, he looked around, sighed and took off his shoes before entering the kitchen. Once again he found himself home before his parents. Not that this would be unusual for a normal child, but due to his parents' hectic work schedule, they often got home after he went to bed and left long before he woke up. As such he hadn't had a conversation with them that wasn't over the phone in two years and they hadn't had dinner together in five. Not that he minded too much, as it allowed him to be more independent than every other kid in the neighborhood, but he would like to at least be able to listen to some music with them. As Double-D had his dinner of pasta with cream sauce and broccoli, his thoughts turned toward the frustrating enigma that is Marie Kanker. She had helped him today and yet still assaulted him. She showed genuine concern and yet still took advantage of him. It was both frustrating and intriguing at the same time. As he put his dishes in the sink so that he could wash them tomorrow there was only one question on his mind. 'Who are you really Marie Kanker?'


	2. Trailer Park Blues

**Trailer Park Blues**

Marie Kanker was trudging through the forest back to the Park and Flush, the sun casting its long shadow upon the twisted oaks and pale sycamores and shrouding the ground with shades of purple and dark blue, rays of orange piercing through the gaps of the canopy. Normally, if she were on her own, she would be skipping through the woods after a love making session with her Oven Mitt, but right now she was feeling rather disgusted with herself, her eyes blazing with anger and her fists shaking. 'Great job back there you idiot, you had him right where you wanted him, you were finally making an effort to have a platonic conversation with him and what do you? Revert to type and forcefully smother him against a tree! Amazing, absolutely amazing! An opportunity to better yourself and you freakin' blew it!' Enraged, she kicked a nearby rock and watched as it shot through the air and bounced off two trees before landing in a small grotto. She leaned back and rested against a nearby maple tree, taking deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. She looked up through a gap in the trees and say the moon, half formed as it hung in the blue predusk sky, its soft glow pushed back to the powerful blaze of the slowly setting sun. She looked back down and sighed, her hand brushing through her hair as she dragged it across her face, temporarily exposing her right eye before her blue locks fell back over it like a wave.

She would be lying if she said that she hated chasing the Ed's, she enjoyed it, heck there were times where she loved it. There was just something about the rush of adrenaline flowing through her as she ran over every hill and dale, the glee of the chase as she inched closer and closer to her prize, the excitement when her target was finally caught and at her mercy, the look of fear that appeared on his face that made her feel like she had complete control, the feel of his skin as it shivered beneath her touch and the rush of passion as she leaned in for the prize that was intoxicating to her. She shivered, waves of pleasure surging through her just by thinking about it. A small smile appeared on her face at the tingling sensation that flowed through her body, her toes curling and her hands clutching her arms as she sighed in extacy. However, as the feeling dissipated, she frowned and then groaned as she grasped her head in both of her hands. 'Damn it is that why I did it? Because I'm getting an erotic kink out of it? Jesus what is wrong with me?' Muttering under her breath at how messed up she might be, she put her hands in her pockets and slowly walked towards the tree line, eventually emerging from the trees and looking out on the trailer park where she lived.

The Park and Flush wasn't one of those modern parks that had a sense of respectful communal living that just happened to be a trailer park, it was a rundown, grubby and even dangerous park that was the primary reason local Cul-de-Sac property values were so low. The grass was completely dead here, as most of the ground was worn down dirt with the occasional mud pit that never seemed to go away no matter how dry it's been. Broken generators and clothes lines shared the ground with empty beer cans, syringes and open garbage bags, spilling their filth out between what could be laughably called paths and yards of the various residents. The trailers themselves weren't much better. Most of them were starting to rust and had cracked windows, their paint peeling off the metal exteriors. Some of them still showed flood damage from the time Double-D, in a sleep deprived state of consciousness, accidently dammed the Peach Creek River, causing it to overflow its banks and flood the region. Marie walked down the familiar route home, walking around the occasional broken down car and pile of busted furniture until she arrived at her trailer. It was really unremarkable, a standard two story blue trailer with a small porch light that was once stolen from a street lamp and hotwired over the doorway. Each floor was shaded a different color of blue, dark blue for the first floor, normal blue for the second floor. It was a standard if rather uninteresting trailer and as such was the best looking trailer in the whole park.

As Marie opened the two doors that led inside she looked in and saw a normal, if boring sight. Her sisters were sitting on the old pea green couch watching basic cable from their 1984 Magnavox Color TV, the soft glow of the screen helping the sun to light up the teal living room and orange shag carpeting. Even though the Kankers weren't the most well off and more often than not had to deal with only two meals a day, broken air conditioning units, cold showers and cheap food, the fact that they were able to live somewhat comfortably was a minor miracle. They had shelves and cabinets, they had indoor plumbing that lead directly to the sewerage line, plenty of space to move around in and they were able to consistently pay the electric bill, something that not even a quarter of the rest of the trailer park could say they could do. Marie was even convinced that they were the only trailer to have a book, let alone a small library. While it wasn't much compared to the kids that lived in the Cul-de-Sac next door (something that she couldn't help but be jealous about after the one time she snuck into her Oven Mitts house to spy on him, only to leave after five minutes after seeing the contents of his fridge, slightly bitter as she did and stealing a bunch of strawberries), it was still HER home and she was glad that it was her home, even if she did have to share a bed with her siblings.

Marie closed the door behind her, making sure to slam it so that her sisters would know that she was home. She went to the kitchen and got herself a glass of water, pretty much the only drink that was in the house besides her mom's crates of beer and the strange orange liquid mom keeps in a cooler that she won't let any of them touch and that she only brings out every Halloween, November 3rd, Christmas, July 31st and … her birthday. Marie shot up slightly and quickly turned off the faucet before turning and looking at the calendar that hung from the refrigerator door. She peared closely at a white square that was filled with a single red circle. ^August 6th, my birthday^. Marie stepped back and groaned a bit, how could she forget? She was turning eleven tomorrow, that meant that Mom was going to be home tonight so that she could spend all day with them. A huge grin came over her face as she sprinted into the living room, her glass of water forgotten on the counter top. "Hey Lee, May!" Lee, aggravated by the sudden shout, turned and shot a small glare at Marie, May joining in with a more annoyed look that crossed her face. "What is it Marie, can't you see that I'm busy trying to watch my soaps?" "Yeah Marie," May concurred with her elder sister. "Vivian's about to bury Dr. Manning alive!" "I just wanted to ask you if you know what day it is?" Marie asked, a look of mischievous glee shining from her face as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. Lee look just got more annoyed for a moment, May on the other hand quickly got the hidden meaning behind Marie's words. "Oh right, your birthday's tomorrow isn't it." Lee, catching on, smiled a sardonic grin that showed the blue cap that covered one of her front teeth. "Yeah, that's right, you're becoming a little lady tomorrow, the big number 11. The day when a young girl wakes up, puts on her best work dress and walks outside saying 'Watch out world, for I am a woman!'" May snorted piggishly at that before quickly covering her hand to stifle her laughter, just in case Marie took offense to it. Marie however, just rolled her eyes while smirking at Lee, who had no qualms about laughing at her own joke in front of her little sister, as she knew that was just her way of saying that she was happy for her. "So, do you know when Mom's going to get home?" Lee, who had calmed down to chuckling a little, cleared her throat by before responding. "Yeah, she told me this morning that she had to work a late shift today so that she didn't have to make up lost time after your birthday so she said that she'll be home by around 8:00, she also told me that we should have dinner before had and just leave something for her when she gets here." Marie frowned at bit at this. She had hoped that they might have been able to have dinner together as a family tonight, but she also knew that her mom couldn't help it. Due to her multiple jobs and the hectic work hours she needed to do in order to get food on the table, she tended to work fifteen hours per day on the reg. As such, most of the time she spent at home was spent sleeping and even then she had gotten used to working on only five hours of rest. Due to constantly working to night shift at Lemon Brook Hospital, they couldn't see her much during the day either, as that was when she slept. It was worse during the school year, as she would be in bed before they left and had gone to work by the time they came home, so every bit of time they could get with her was precious to them. Ms Kanker knew this as well, so every Christmas and on each of her children's birthdays she would spend the entire day with them, talking to them about school, about their hobbies, how they were doing and about what adventures they've gotten into. So for her not to have dinner the day before one of their birthdays was a little concerning. Marie looked and checked the time. ^5:15^.

The hours seemed to tick away at the speed of molasses for Marie. She and her sisters spent their time watching their evening soaps, fighting over the remote afterward to see what they would watch next (Marie wanted to watch the WWE, Lee wanted to watch the horse races and May wanted to watch 'The Golden Girls'), and making and eating their specialty brand Kanker meatloaf, but every five minutes Marie would look up at the clock and try to will it to go faster. But the seconds just ticked slowly on, each tick feeling like a drop of cold water was being poured on the base of her neck. By 7:30, Marie was just doing things in a futile attempt to distract herself from having an anxious breakdown. She was trying to read an art book about the Baroque Era of Art. Key word being **tried, **as she had been reading the same line about Caravaggio's 'The Blinding of ' for the past ten minutes. Frustrated, she slammed the book shut on the kitchen table. Rubbing her eyes, she turned towards the small digital clock resting nearby. ^7:52^. She glared at the clock, grabbed it in her hand and shock it. She stopped and looked at it again. ^7:53^. "Argh, useless piece of junk!" she shouted before hurling the clock against the fridge, denting it. She sighed in an attempt to get her nerves under control, picked up her book and walked back into the living room. Lee was back on the couch, now watching 'Fish Bowl II' for the 207th time ('How is that constantly on the air?') and May was laying down on her chest on the white rug in front of the tv, reading some comic books she 'liberated' from the garbage. Marie put the book back on the shelf and sat next to her sister on the couch. Lee looked over at her and spoke in a quiet and comforting tone, "Hey, you don't have to be so nervous, it's just mom after all, you know she wouldn't stay late on a day like this unless there was something really important going on." Maire sighed, nodded and pinched the bridge of her nose in weariness. "I know, I'm just being stupid. It's just that she told me that she was going to tell me something important tomorrow." "Really," Lee asked quizzically, "about what?" Marie looked down at her hands, which rested rigidly between her legs. "About my Dad." Lee stared back, stone faced and subdued. "Oh." The two sisters sat there awkwardly, neither of them able to look at each other.

If there was one wedge between the Kanker Sisters, it was their fathers. While all three of them had the same mother they all had different fathers and each of their father's had a different relationship with their mother. Back even before Ms Kanker had Lee she was struggling financially. She hadn't been able to go to college after graduating high school and struggled keeping a stable job so for some extra money she had done some work as a 'companion' to pay the bills. One of her clients and her had gotten a little frisky one night and by the time she realized she was pregnant, her client had been promoted and transferred halfway across the country. Angry, she ended up giving birth to Lee at a homeless shelter and raising her on her own. As for May's conception, well let's just say there's a reason she doesn't go out drinking alone any more. However, Marie's father was the one that got close to her enough for there to be pictures of him, the few of them that there were, to be in the house. In mom's room there were pictures of a black long haired man with gray eyes, a black goatee/mustache combo and a smile that shone as if he were always laughing. One picture had him holding Marie and Lee in each of his arms while smiling at the camera, another had him carrying Lee on his shoulders, both of them laughing in delight and yet another showed him smiling sheepishly, covered in mashed carrots that had been thrown at him by May. But there were no images of him beyond Marie's second Christmas, as he left her mother while Marie was only a year old, never to return. So far all that her mother ever said on the matter was that he had a good reason to leave and that he promised to return one day. Whenever her mother was home she would always set aside time to talk to Marie about her father, about his jokes and the little pranks he used to pull, about his love of dogs and deer, about his hatred for his mother and the quiet sorrow he had with his estranged relationship with his brother. Even though she hadn't seen him in nearly ten years and has never had an actual conversation with him, she knew nearly everything about him, his favorite food (smoked salmon with a mango glaze), his favorite band (Black Sabbath), what he liked to wear on his days off (a black leather jacket, worn khakis and a fire red t-shirt), even the pet names they'd call each other (Babs and Pads respectively). Every scrap of information she could pick up about her father she treasured and she always looked forward to the moment where her mother would take her to her room and tell her more stories about her father. And both Lee and May, who never knew their fathers, resented that special connection that Marie had with their mother because of it. There was an intimacy that they lacked, another level that they felt that they would never be able to reach, to the point that when they were particularly angry with each other Lee and May would scornfully call Marie 'the favorite'. So in order to keep the peace Marie would try not to bring it up, but this year was different as her mother promised to tell her why her father left them when she turned eleven, so she was particularly excited and nervous about tomorrow. It's the main reason why she had been looking at the clock all night. But now that she mentioned it to Lee she was worried that the family time they would spend together would turn bitter.

Luckily for them a tired yet firm voice came from the doorway. "I'm home girls." The sisters turned towards the door where Ms Barbra Kanker was just entering. "Sorry I'm late, Susie's husband Calvin's father was in a bike accident and had to be taken to the hospital so she asked me to cover for her while they went to the emergency room to see him." If one looked at the Kanker sisters actions one would assume that their mother was just as aggressive, brash and impulsive as her daughters but that couldn't be further from the truth. Barbra was a kind and compassionate, if sorrowful woman. Her strawberry blonde cascaded down to the middle of her back, framing an aged yet beautiful face of a woman in her late thirties. Hazel eyes glistened in a ring of crows feet and purple bags while a small, if insincere smile appeared on her face, as if she was trying to hide her pain and exhaustion. A pair of brown khaki's fit comfortably around her muscular thighs and wide hips while a short sleeved collared black shirt barely covered her D-sized breasts and muffin top. She was like the figurehead of a ship that had slowly been beaten down by time and age, with the beauty of the craftsman's carving shining through despite the best efforts of even the most tumultuous storm.

Marie quickly got up off the coach and tried to guide her mother over to the coach, but she kindly rebuffed her. "Honey I know you mean well but I'm not so tired that I can't walk across a room." As she sat down she kicked off a pair of black two inch heels and let out a small sigh before slumping down into the cushion, a wave of exhaustion crashing into her with the force of a twenty foot tsunami. May quickly went to the kitchen and returned with a plate of leftover meatloaf. "We saved this for you, I hope you like it." May said as she gave her mother the plate. Ms Kanker looked over at her youngest and let a sly grin crossed her face. "Why, did you make dinner tonight." The blush that crossed May's face was all the answer she needed. She chortled a little before giving her a smile. "Oh May, you know that I like whatever you make for me. You don't have to worry about my opinion on things like this." "I know, I just didn't want to give you food poisoning again." Ms Kanker frowned a bit at this. "May you were only seven and it was your first time cooking, you've improved so much since then, you need to stop being so critical of yourself." May blushed again, this time in embarrassment and nodded. As Ms Kanker ate she and her daughters talked about their summer so far, about what the neighbors were doing, about miss so-and-so's affair and mr yadayada's drug problem, about some of the more amusing events that happened to Ms Kanker at work and her frustration with her boss at the restaurant, about what classes they were looking forward to later this month and about the possibility of getting a new air conditioning unit as the old one was on its last legs. The night went on her the next few hours, dishes were put in the sink and mugs of hot chocolate was brought out, the sounds of the television screen drowned out by their bonding. The shadows grew across the walls and the floor until it consumed the golden light of the sun, leaving only the pale, sickly glow of the tv to light the room. Eventually the conversation turned towards what they had been doing that very day. "So after I finished cleaning up the grease trap, my boss was about to let me go when one of the new busboys broke five of the wine bottles, so he me go to the liquor store so that we could get new ones. I swear I was this close to strangling the kid I was so mad." growled Ms Kanker, gesturing with fingers barely touching each other, showing just how close she was to snapping. "You have better control than me ma, the cooks would've been spending three hours scrapping him off the ceiling." said Lee, shaking her head and chuckling slightly. "And you wonder why I worry about your temper." Ms Kanker responded, sipping her mug afterward. "And that's really it, so what did you do today?" The Kanker sisters froze slightly, as if they had been dunked in cold water. There was a silent agreement among them that they would never mention any of the more 'questionable' aspects of their relationship with the Ed's or at least paint themselves in a more positive light. They would mention somethings, like when the time they stopped Eddy from hypnotizing the neighborhood and made them act like dogs afterward and the time they attacked Eddy's river cruise, saying that they were playing with them, and the time Marie won the neighborhood wrestling competition, but things like when they kidnapped the Ed's for a fake wedding, or when they helped Jimmy frame the Ed's for ruining friendship day or when they destroyed the Cul-de-Sac searching for their ship in a bottle were never discussed or brought up on family day. As far as Ms Kanker knew, the Ed's were just neighborhood trouble makers that they hung out with sometimes and other times stopped from conducting their more nefarious scams. Lee and May subtly looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and a wave of agreement passed between them. "Oh the Ed's were conducting one of their scams again, we disagreed with what they were doing, Eddy rebuffed our concerns, we broke up the operation and then chased them for a bit before coming home, nothing much." Lee said dismissively. "Really?" Ms Kanker quired, an eyebrow raised in doubt. "What were they doing this time?" May responded to her, her eyebrows creased in anger and her teeth grinding like sandpaper. "They were doing a fortune telling scamming, using tarot cards, a glass ball and other tricks to take the other kids quarters to buy jawbreakers." A dark look came across Ms Kanker's face. "You were too gentle with them." Marie winced at this, a wave of guilt hitting her suddenly, something that her mother saw. "Marie, did something else happen?" Lee and May also looked over at her, as they were curious to know what happened after they left. Marie wanted to look at them, but her eyes refused to leave her feet. "Marie, what did you do?" Ms Kanker's accusatory tone was something her the Kankers swore had to come from some mystical sources because no matter how hard they tried to hide something, they always come clean whenever she spoke to them in that tone, and it didn't fail at this time either. "I didn't do it to him, but while we were chasing after them, one of the Ed's tripped on a tree root and he dislocated his shoulder while falling down the hill." A look of shock appeared on May's and Lee's face, while a look of concern appeared on her mother's. "Was he alright?" "Yeah, after I set his shoulder back in, but." "But?" Marie finally looked up at her mother and into eyes glowing with understanding, eyes that seemed to say that she would be understanding no matter what she said so she continued. "We said some mean things to each other, but he came over to apologize, when...when." Silently, Barbra urged her daughter to go on. "I felt this urge, it was domineering, it was forceful, it was...erotic. I wanted him to submit, I wanted to feel this controlling power over him, I wanted him to feel...helpless." Ms Kanker stared stonely at her before speaking, almost in a whisper. "Lee, May, I want you to go to bed, your sister will be along in a few minutes, I just want to have a private talk." Lee and May didn't need telling twice as they quickly spirited out of the room and up the stairs.

Now that they were alone, Barbra could only sigh. 'How did it come to this.' she thought. 'Well, time for this game to end.' "Marie, how do you feel when you chase the Ed boys?" Marie had returned to looking down at her feet, shame oozing from her oil paint from a tube. "I feel delighted, strong, powerful. And when I catch them I feel triumphant. When they look at me with fear I feel hot, as if my whole body constantly being touched in every sensitive part of my nerves. When I touch him I feel tense and I just want to release it as forcefully as possible." Is that why I have to keep buying lipstick and Krankshaft perfume?" Marie froze and looked to her mother in shock and winced as she saw her eyes blazing in disappointment and anger. "You think I didn't know about your escapades with them? I've known ever since Mrs. Mactavish called to shout at me for Lee accosting her son in the shower last summer. It took everything I had to convince her not to call the cops on her." Marie now stared at her mother in fear. She had told her sisters that breaking into their boyfriends house was too far and that they shouldn't do it. She knew that they were getting lucky and that the only reason they hadn't been reported was because the other kids were too scared of them. But her sisters, cocky and arrogant, did it anyway. 'Least I know why mom had Lee do the laundry and dishwashing for three months afterward now.' Marie thought as her mother started to speak again. "And I know about the one you go after, Eddward Vincent isn't it?" "Ye, Yes." Marie stuttered, now wishing that the floor would open up beneath her and swallow her whole. "Believe it or not one of my friends at the hospital is Dr. Alice Vincent, Eddward's mother and while she also struggles to see her son when she can, she does love him and she does see him every night. And for the past year she's been getting concerned about the number of bruises he's been getting, particularly those at the base of his neck." Marie winced again, as she recently started giving Double-D hickeys along with the standard lipstick kisses, as she wanted to leave something more permanent on him, now that had come back to bite her in the rear. "Marie, I understand that because I'm not here that often and that you didn't know better, but you and the others can't go on doing this. I know that you're responsible young ladies, it's why I kept such a free hand on this rather than snipping it in the bud last year, but I'm worried that sense you feel this whenever you encounter him that it might be getting worse, and I don't want to see one of my daughter's end up in a juvenile hall." Marie by this point was on the verge of tears, as each word coming from her mother's mouth was like rocks being thrown at her head. "I'm sorry, at first it was just some bullying, they were scam artists and nobody really complained if we went after them but as time went on I...I" "Fell in love with your victim." Marie nodded, a few tears trailing down her face. "It's not like I didn't feel bad afterwards, I felt a little disgusted with myself that I couldn't even have a conversation with him without trying to have control of him." Barbra moved closer to her daughter and gave her a hug to comfort her. "And that is a good thing, because you realize that what you have with each other isn't healthy. It means that you can start to fix this. But not tomorrow, I have something important I need to tell you and your sisters tomorrow that is going to affect all of us." Marie, drying her tears from her eyes, looked up curiously at her mother. "Why, what is it?" Instead of a response, Ms Kanker just smiled, winked and poked Marie on the nose. "Ah, ah, can't spoil the surprise too early. Now go up to bed, we have a big day tomorrow." Marie, now smiling, nodded and went up the stairs to her sisters room.

Barbra watched her daughter go with a smile on her face, but once she heard the tell tale sound of a door closing the smile left her face. She got up and picked up the disused mugs from the floor and put them in the sink. She then turned off the tv and went upstairs to her room. It was a rather barren space, a single twin sized mattress on a wire frame bed, a night stand with a lamp on top of it and a small desk were the only pieces of furniture in the room, a murky glow from the lamp bouncing off the purple walls giving it a rather lonely feeling to it. Barbra sat on the bed before reaching into the nightstand drawer and pulling out a small picture. It was a picture of her and Marie's father at Niagara Falls, enjoying a date together. But the interesting thing about the picture was that the occupants of the photo were moving. Marie's father was laughing and constantly messing up her hair, while she was mocking beating him off. She watched as her photographic self drew him into a loving kiss, a sad smile appearing on her face as a tear rolled down her face. "Oh Pads, I'm so worried about our little girls." She fell back on the bed and drew the photo to her chest, caressing it in a loving embrace. "I'm trying so hard, but I don't know what to do with this one."


	3. The Letter and the Owl

**The Letter and the Owl**

The next day started slowly, as all four Kankers wanted to sleep in. As such it wasn't until 10:30 before they sat down for breakfast, a small meal of a few eggs and a strip of bacon each. The lack of food didn't concern the Kankers, as they were just happy to have a meal together as a family. Around 10:55, the familiar sounds of the mail truck was heard rounding the bend towards the trailer park entrance.

"Marie can you get the mail?" "Sure mom." As Marie left the table, she failed to notice the unusual slight nervousness that flashed through her mother's eyes and disappeared as quickly as a flash of lightning. Marie exited the house into the hot morning air, the heat beating down and cooking her as if she had been shoved into a microwave.

'Looks like another heat wave today. Hope the AC unit doesn't break again, I do not want to fix it in this weather.' She continued her trek towards the mailbox, sweat starting to trickle down her face with every step until she reached the beaten down and rusted mailbox. She opened it up and started her usual habit of searching through the mail, a habit she started in order to sort the bills from the market gimmicks, political ads and the occasional late rent notice in order to distinguish the important mail that needed to be seen immediately from the junk that would go straight into the bin. 'If people saw me regularly do this, I would probably be hired as a secretary on the spot.' As Marie finished her diligent work, she was about to walk back to her sanctuary from the attacks of the sun when she heard the sound of wings cutting through the heavy air.

She turned around and saw a very peculiar sight. A Great Grey owl was flying down towards her, veering slightly as it got closer before landing on top of the mailbox. It was a huge bird, standing more than three feet tall with a wingspan of more than five feet. Its gray plumage was clean and well groomed, as if it had been domesticated and its piercing yellow eyes glowed with a dignified and regal gleam. The owl stared at her, making her very uncomfortable, as it made her feel that she was back in the principal's office after being caught playing hooky with her sisters. Frozen in stunned amazement, the girl and the owl locked gazes for several minutes, neither moving a fraction of an inch to either side, not a twitch of the muscle or the nerve, only complete and utter stillness.

After a time, Marie's eyes drifted towards the base of the owls feet and saw a yellow letter tied to a string on its left claw. Slowly and cautiously, she crept towards the owl. When she was within reach of the owl, it cocked its head and extended its leg towards her. Her eyes flickered towards the owl, curious before taking the letter and looking at the envelope. As she read the sending address, her eyes slowly widened in surprise.

_Miss M. Kanker_

_The Second Bedroom, Trailer Unit 19_

_Park n' Flush Trailer Park, 219 Lemon Brook Highway_

_Peach Creek, Wisconsin_

Marie was unable to speak, the letter shaking in her hand. On the one hand, she was excited. She had never gotten a personal letter before, as she never had a pen pal and she had no immediate relatives, as her maternal grandparents had both died by the time she was five, her mother had no siblings or cousins and she never met her father's family. The only member of her father's family that she knew about had been an uncle that had died shortly before her father left, so she knew it wasn't from him. Still to get a letter for herself was something that some part of her felt that she should treasure. On the other hand, however, she was frightened. The addressing was too specific, too intimate for her liking. For one, what letter included that bedroom in which the recipient slept in. For all she knew the person who sent the letter was stalking her. 'How ironic, a stalker having a stalker.' she thought sardonically before turning her eyes back to the letter, now glaring at it. 'I swear if whoever sent this has pictures of me they're going to be castrated with a rusty apple peeler. Slowly. Over the course of several hours. With no anesthetic.' She turned it over to try to find a return address, as there was none on the front. While there was none on the back, there was a sigal of origin. The envelope had been sealed with a wax seal. Interestingly enough, the seal was multi colored and divided into five segments. The top left of the seal had a red background overlayed by a golden lion, the top right had a yellow background overlayed by a black badger, the bottom left had a blue background overlayed by a bronze eagle and the bottom right had a green background overlayed by a silver serpent. All four of which surrounded a golden H framed by a black square. This only left her even more confused, as this meant that this might be an official document. 'But I don't have a bank account. And I don't have a library membership, so who would have sent this?'

In the end she decided to pocket the letter. 'Mom needs to know about this. This is just too weird for me to figure out on my own, and for all I know this might just be a complicated prank.' As she walked back to the trailer she saw that the great gray had taken off and followed after her, it quickly overtaking her coming to a landing on the porch light. She looked up at it and tried to get it to leave. "Sho, go home." The owl turned its gaze to her, looking at her rather irritably. "I got your note, go home to your owner." The owl screeched at her with annoyance. "What were you told to wait here until I sent back a reply?" Marie asked irritably, now glaring at the owl. The owl hooted in confirmation before turning its back to her and nestling its head under its wing. "Persistent little shit." Marie grumbled as she reentered the trailer.

As she entered she saw that her siblings and her mother had moved to the family room and were watching *Ghost Whisperer*. Her mom was sitting on the coach with Lee while May sat on the floor at their feet. Lee looked over and remarked gruffly

"Jeez Marie what took ya so long, it normally doesn't take this long for ya to get the mail." "Yeah," May turned towards her, a smarmy smirk plastered on her face. "What were you doing, checking it for letter bombs." May chuckled a little at her joke but Lee quickly silenced her with conk on the head, May turning to give her a glare while rubbing her head in pain.

"To answer you question Lee, I was held up an owl that wouldn't leave me alone." "Really, an owl?" Ms Kanker asked with barely restrained curiosity. "Yeah, it's currently dozing on the porch light. For some reason it won't leave until I reply to a letter it gave me." She then took the letter out of her pocket and gave it to her mother. "Really Marie, none of the three of us get any mail." Lee said suspiciously. "I don't get it either, but whoever sent it apparently not only knew where I lived and what my name is, but they even knew which room I slept in." May perked up in fright and started to shake a little. "Do you think they might have cameras in our room." Lee and Marie froze in horror. 'Shit I didn't think of that, I don't want some voyeur cleaning his putter while watching me sleep."

"Girls," the three of them jumped in startled surprise before turning and seeing their mother, looking somewhat subdued, holding the letter back out to Marie. "If you want to find out, then open the letter." Marie, now thoroughly puzzled, took the letter from her mother's hand and broke the seal. Upon opening it, she found two pieces of parchment the same color as the envelope. She pulled one of them out and quickly her confusion turned into stunned bewilderment.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_( Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards) _

_Dear Miss Kanker,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 14th. _

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress_

Confusion and disbelief mounting by the second, Marie quickly looked at the next sheet of paper, her body shaking in with every word that she read.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_

_First year students will require:_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adelbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self -Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set of glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope set_

_1 brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

At this point Marie couldn't take anymore and fell over in a fit of hysterical laughter. Tears were streaming down face with mirth and her body shaking with glee as she laughed at the ludicrousness of what she has just read. She kept laughing for the next five minutes, only stopping when her lungs began to ache and she was just as much choking as laughing.

"HAHAHAHA, cough cough cough, HAHAHA, GASP, oh god! Alright, hahaha, great joke, hehehe, absolutely hilarious, I haven't laughed this much since I saw Shortstacks yearbook picture. Hehehe, a school for witchcraft of wizardry, what a lark." She then stood up, smiling a cheshire grin and turned to her sisters. "Alright, which one of you two wrote this, nobody else could've known what room we sleep in and come up with something this ridiculous."

However, her sisters, now reading the letter in mute perplexity, turned to their sister. "Um Marie," May said quietly "we didn't write this."

Marie chuckled, "Oh come on, who else could write something like this? Do you honestly think that I would believe that there's some self respecting person out there that would willing name themselves Phyllida Spore? Or Adelbert Waffling? I mean Arsenius Jigger is little more than a pun."

Lee stared at her sister, annoyed that she would think that they would write something like this for a lame joke. "Marie, our handwriting isn't this good when we write in script, there is no way that we can write cursive this good. What on earth makes you think we can?"

Marie wasn't laughing anymore, in fact she was slowly getting more and more frustrated with her siblings. "Well then maybe you forced my Oven Mitt to write this letter, it sounds as formal as one of his papers even if the details are completely asinine. Most of this stuff sounds like something from a Halloween store or some cult summoning. I mean what idiot would have the name Albus Dumbledore?" "Actually, I found him to be a charming and rather brilliant man."

The three girls turned in shock to their mother, who was now coming down the stairs with a brown leather book under her left arm. They had been so caught up in their argument that they hadn't even noticed her leave the room. "And trust me, that is just an abridged version. His full name is a mouthful that would make most monarchs jealous."

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that this is legit!?" Marie screeched incredulously. "I know it doesn't seem like it is, but that is an official form letter for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland." Ms Kanker looked at her daughters and saw the disbelief painted on each of their faces. Marie's forehead vein was throbbing so hard that it looked like it was going to burst, May's jaw had hit the floor in shock and while she couldn't see her eyes, Lee was looking at her as if she had lost her mind. Sighing, she extended the book towards them. "Look at this, if you don't believe me when you're done looking at it then I won't bring this up again and I'll just send a note back saying that you weren't interested."

Lee, now thoroughly suspicious, cautiously took the book from her hands and opened it up, scoffing as she did so. She flipped through it, slowly going through each page until she froze. She stared at the page for half a minute, then turned the next page, then the next one and the next one until her hands were a blur of page movement, her eyes moving frantically from one page to another until she came to the very end of the book. She then flipped it back, desperately trying to find some sort of explanation that would reveal this entire thing as a lie until she finally couldn't refuse the evidence before her any longer. Numb and completely rattled, the book fell out of her shaking hands onto the floor.

Marie was now really worried. It took a lot for her sister to get even nervous and now it looked like she was on the verge of having an anxiety attack. She grabbed her sister by her shoulders and starting to lightly shake them. "Lee, Lee! Are you alright?" "It's true." Lee murmured, her voice barely higher than a whisper. "What's true?" Marie asked, but all Lee did was point to the book, now lying face down on the ground. Marie let go of her sibling and picked up the book. Frightfully, she turned to a random page, May curiously looking over her shoulder as she did. What they saw caused their eyes to bulge to the size of dinner plates.

The book was a photo album, but the photos weren't still images. Instead, the photos moved, their figures fluttering across black, white and colored landscapes and backgrounds, laughing, joking even getting angry at each other, as though they were characters in a silent film. The photo they were staring at was a picture of their mother and Marie's father at a coffee shop, but instead of just the two figures staring into the camera frozen in time, they were interacting with each other. They watched as Marie's dad told what had to be a joke, as their mother reacted in a fit of giggles. Moving their eyes over to the next page showed the two of them on the coach, their mother's head in his lap sleeping while he played with her hair. They watched as she woke up, smirked and gave a small slap on his arm, causing him to flinch a little bit before smiling at her. Flipping to the next page showed the two of them at a pub drinking mugs and drunkenly supporting each other, their faces redded by the booze they had previously consumed. "I..but..how?" "Simple, wizards have these special chemicals that if developed right cause the images to move." The Kanker sisters jumped, having forgotten that their mother was even there. Marie suddenly felt how dry her lips were and how sick her stomach was. If what her mother said was true, then there really were witches and wizards floating around and that she might be one of them, however insane that sounded.

"Mom," May started to quire, trying desperately to convince herself that she was just hallucinating. "Surely Marie can't be a witch. She hasn't done any magic spells, occult rituals or turned anyone into toads so how could she be a witch?"

"Just because she hadn't done any of these things doesn't mean your sister isn't a witch May. After all, don't you remember anything strange happening whenever she was particularly angry of scared?"

Marie felt the pit of her throat fall into her stomach, her mouth now tasting like copper as her mind began to swim through her memories. She remembered how one time she was four and May was getting on at preschool, she had been so angry that when she punched the bully across the face, her skin from where the punch had connected looked as if it had suffered from second degree burns afterward. She remembered when she was seven and how she angry she was when her mother wouldn't get her hair dye. She went to bed that night with chocolate brown hair and woke up the next morning with blue hair, (something that looked to be permanent as blue hair now grew from her scalp no matter how much dye she used) and hadn't she just a few months ago destroyed Peach Creek Elementary in a fit of jealous rage so vicious that they were still rebuilding it?

Now so nervous that her skin looked at pale as milk, Marie quietly asked, "Mom, Dad, was he…?" "Yes, and a talented one at that." Ms Kanker leaned her head onto her hand, a wistful smile appearing on her face as her as glazed over, as if she were no longer in the room, but far away in a time and place her children could only imagine.

"I actually met your father by accident. I was going home from the supermarket one night when I heard a sound similar to the cracking of a whip coming from an alley I was walking past. Curious, I decided to investigate and I found your father bleeding out in the middle of it with a chunk of his shoulder missing. He was barely older than twenty years old, if that and he had long matted hair glistening with sweat. He was wearing these strange black robes over a white t-shirt and blue jeans and clutching a black stick that I later found out was his wand. I didn't find any license or I.D. on him so I didn't feel I didn't think he would make to the hospital on time so I made a makeshift bandage on his arm from my skirt and took him to the apartment I used to live in that was luckily only two blocks down. I put an actual bandage and some rubbing alcohol on him and spent the next four days taking care of him while he was in a coma." She frowned a little as she returned to reality. "It was touch and go for a while there. I was worried that he might die. But he eventually woke up. He was really panicky at first, as he thought that he had been kidnapped, but I was able to calm him down, though he was utterly stunned when I told him that he had ended up in Chicago." She chuckled a little bit at this, which confused her daughters. "Why was he confused about how he ended up in Chicago?" "Well Lee, Marie's father wasn't American, he was British and he had originally been in Manchester before he accidently apparated to Chicago, that was the reason part of his shoulder was missing."

By this point Marie's head was spinning, the shock of the situation starting to overwhelm her a little. "Apparated?" "Basically he teleported to a place he didn't intend to go to. Any way, I spent the next month nursing him back to health. We told each other stories about our lives, our parents, his friends, my pregnancy with what would be Lee, my financial situation and we became friends. He would pay for my food, help clean up around the house, he even paid for two years worth of rent so that I wouldn't have to worry about it. Eventually he had to leave, he had family and friends back home and I told him that if he ever needed a place to crash then I was always available." She drank from her coffee mug, grimacing as she felt the now cold liquid trickle down her throat and lamenting that they didn't have a microwave silently before continuing.

"I honestly never expected to see him again. I fell back on my routine back then and two months went by without incident. Then one day he turned up on my doorstep. He told me that he wanted to talk. I was worried at first but he just wanted to talk about how stressful his job was. Apparently even though he came from money he worked as an official for the British government and things were getting bad back home and he wanted to just talk about it to an unbiased party. So I listened and afterward we went out for tea. This continued in a similar pattern for about half a year. He'd visit every other month and after I taught him how to use the phone he would call every week to talk about what was going on where he lived. He'd talk about his best friend's wedding, about his surly boss, his obnoxious coworkers and some of the tamer raids he had to take part in, I'd talk about my work, how the pregnancy was going and some of the hopes I had for the future. We got closer to each other, to the point that he was by my bedside when I was giving birth for the first time. Eventually we got too close. We didn't think about what we were doing we just did it." She then started to laugh, "God when we found out I was pregnant again he thought that I was going to kill him. He offered to pay for all your schooling and my living expenses if he could see you twice a month. I was more angry by the thought that he believed that I wanted nothing to do with him any more than for getting pregnant. Gave him a good whack around the head for that."

Ms Kanker chuckled for a little bit before quieting. She ran her hand through her hair as the smile disappeared from her face, replaced by a pained and sorrowful look, her eyes clouded with grief. "He told me that he was a wizard a little less than a week later. At first didn't believe him, but he lievatated a chair and proved it to me. He told me that he was worried about me because of what was happening back where he lived. A terrorist group lead by a dark wizard named Voldemort was trying to overturn the wizard government in Britain. They were notorious muggle haters and they considered any wizard that associated or even sympathized with muggles to be blood traitors. And Marie's father was well known as a dark wizard hater and a muggle lover, so if Voldemort or any of his supporters found out that he was having a child with a muggle they would've gone after me to get to him. He said he was understanding if I wanted to cut him out of my life but he just looked so pathetic that I refused. I told him that I would stay be his side through thick and thin for as long as it takes." She took a few deep breaths, as if she was trying to fight back tears. "I started dating him shortly after that. He introduced me to a few of his friends and some of his former teachers, all of whom were heavily involved in the fight against Voldemort. I was even able to get some of them to help babysit you Lee. There are a few pictures of them in there I'll show you later. And when Marie was born he was so happy. But, the war started to escalate around this time. Several of our friends turned up dead, the raids got more violent, it was difficult to trust anyone after a while. Marie, your dad was gone sometimes for weeks on end doing stuff for the war effort. He still had his moments, like when he offered to give the man who got me pregnant with May a force circumcision, but I felt like I was an outsider to I wider world the more and more time I spent with him. The last time I saw him, he told me that he had found out that there was a traitor in the ranks of the police force and that he was going to go after them, that he would talk to me again when he caught him. Well that traitor was also a very good coward, because I haven't seen him or heard from him since."

As Ms Kanker concluded her tale, Marie couldn't take it anymore and ran. As she yanked open the front door and sprinted from the trailer park, she didn't even hear the cries of her family as she disappeared in the tranquility of the trees.


	4. Accidental Chaos

**Accidental Chaos**

"Come one, come all and ride Eddy's Extreme Spinner, the ride where if you don't puke, then we didn't do our job!" A loud and blaring voice boomed across the Cul-de-Sac as the sun rose to its peak. The source of the voice was a short boy standing on top of a milk crate, a megaphone in his hand and greedy and excited gleam in his eyes. His grin was stretched across his face from ear to ear, proud and sleazy, the exact copy of one that would be displayed on a salesman trying to sell opium pills to children at the turn of the 19th century.

Slowly in a trickle and then as a small stream a group of kids started to come out of the houses and started to assemble in front of Eddy's house, each one displaying a look of irritation and suspicion. After having been involved in Eddy's scams, belligerence, antagonism and shortsightedness for more than two years at this point, the neighborhood kids were more than willing to believe that he had a future as a used car salesman or a mortgage banker. Honestly by this point the only reason they continued to indulge him was a combination of the hope of having the odd fluke of an actual good idea that works and boredom caused by the tedium of reality, with a small heap of pity thrown in for good measure.

The group only numbered six people, but they could become a fierce force at a moments notice (as Eddy well knew, as he has been on the receiving end of such beat downs on multiple occasions). At the front of the group was a tough looking, semi perpetually scowling jock of similar short stature to Eddy, with a green long sleeved shirt, black shorts and a red baseball cap that he wore backwards over his crew cut red hair. His jade green eyes glared at Eddy, his anger and hatred barely restrained behind his stone like face.

"Alright dork, what are you trying to do this time?" He growled out. Eddy, sweating a little on the back of his neck, jumped down from the crate and put his arm around the jock's neck, his face now sporting the look of a dishonest door to door salesman. "Well Shovel Chin, you know those rides where you're strapped to a wall and then spun round and round until the ride ends? I just took the same concept and took it up a notch."

The jock threw Eddy's arm off his shoulder and picked him up by the collar. "You better hope that this doesn't go wrong or the next time you're seen, it's as a drowned corpse ten miles downstream. I know how dangerous these kinds of rides can be."

"Kevin, let him go. We haven't even seen the Spinner yet, let alone ride it. Let's withhold judgement until later." The jock, now named Kevin, looked back at the person who voiced reason when dealing with the local scam artist. It was a blond haired girl with full red lips and kind aquamarine eyes, wearing a white tank top over a black t-shirt and a pair of purple designer jeans. She was looking at Kevin with a judgemental sternness that was almost motherly.

"Indeed Kevin, let us see what foot in mouth Ed boy has to show. It might be better for Rolf than sanding Nana's foot fungus." This voice, going by the name of Rolf, had come from a tall and gangly blue haired boy with wise and slightly crazed mud brown eyes wearing a yellow short sleeved shirt crossed horizontally by a red bar and a pair of faded blue jeans. His accent, some vague eastern dialect that was part German, part Polish, part Swedish and part Slovak, indicating that he had only recently immigrated, easily distinct amongst the clear english and slight midwestern accents the other three speakers had.

Kevin eyes bore into Eddy's, causing Eddy to start to panic slightly before he sighed and dropped him before looking back at the blonde. "Okay Nazz, we'll do it your way, but if something goes wrong, I'm hanging him by his underwear from the top of the nearest street light." Eddy quickly got back up off the ground and looked around at his captivated audience, the sound of quarters clinking on glass chiming through his head.

"Ladies and Gentlemen and Jimmy," "Hey!" "Please step into the backyard of my humble abode and experience one of the greatest days of your life!" Eddy then sprinted around the corner of the house and out of sight. The rest of the kids followed him and found that what he had to show them wasn't as extravagant or as cheap as some of his previous scams. If anything it was rather simple. It was a wooden wheel that was lying on its side, elevated by a connecting spoked gear connected to another gear that was connected and moved by a crank that they saw Ed standing next to, waving at them and smiling in a dopey and cheerful manner. Eddy was posing arrogantly in front of a set of metal stairs that lead up to door in the side of the wheel, now wearing a green accountants hat and holding a glass mason jar. "Step right up and experience that ride of a lifetime, all for the low low price of one quarter!"

"And why should we do that?" Eddy froze in shock before his face morphed into an expression of irritation before looking into the crowd at a red haired girl with smoldering, angry light brown eyes and wearing a pink tank top and blue skinny jeans. Both glared at each other with unmasked hatred, each willing the other's head to blow up with little success. Luckily for both of them, Double-D exited Eddy's house through his glass bedroom door. In conjunction with his normal summer attire he was wearing a green and yellow plaid tie over his shirt, making him a bit more professional in his actions and mannerism (though really, nothing changed in his attitude, he just wore it to make him feel professional).

"Well Sarah, I have set this up so that we could get enough speed for an enjoyable experience and stable enough so that no accidents could happen. We are all aware that safety for this ride is our top priority." What Double-D didn't say was that he had had a hard time convincing Eddy to allow such a thing to happen, as his rather cheap friend wanted to use cardboard. Fortunately for Double-D, he was able to find some unused construction supports in the junkyard and had convinced Eddy to use those instead.

"And I will be carefully watching Ed to make sure he doesn't take it too far." Ed then appeared between the two and gave Sarah a bone crushing hug. "Your head is safe with me little sister." "ED!" Sarah growled, "Get off of me!" Sarah pried herself from her brother's arms enough to punch him in the face, sending his upper body stretching towards the house before snapping back like a rubber band and hitting Sarah in the face, popping her out of his grasp in the process. She skidded across the yard for a bit, leaving a trail of dirt and rocks cutting through the neatly trimmed yard until she rammed into the fence.

Eddy's hoarse cackle filled the air as a young boy with curly sandy hair, emerald green eyes, a blue longsleeve shirt, white designer khakis, a black belt and a wire brace that held what his ten remaining baby teeth ran towards the crumbled heap that was Sarah. "Sarah, are you alright?" he asked in a high pitched concerned squeak. He raised her head, now sporting a few bruises, a cut left cheek and a black right eye towards his. She looked dazed at first, but as she regained cohesion and heard Eddy's laughter, pure rage consumed her entire being. "No Jimmy, but those two are going to look a lot worse after I'm done with them."

Leaping to her feet she charged at Eddy and Ed with the fierceness of a Spanish bull. The two of them only had a few moments for their entire faces to develop into looks of utter terror before both were tackled and the three of them devolved into a whirling mass of dust, fists and agonized screams. The rest of the kids quickly dodged out of the way of the chaos as it moved past them. Some of them had been on the receiving end of Sarah's temper before and they were not interested in getting caught in her vengeful path.

Double-D, terrified for his friends lives and terrified that Sarah would turn on him next due to association, tried to desperately reason with her. "SARAH! Ed is the operator for the ride, it won't work without him!" But his pleas fell on deaf ears. By the time she was done with Ed and Eddy, the two of them were little more than crumbled living corpses, covered in deep purple bruises, a few broken ribs and two massive concussions that left huge bumps on their heads and spirals in their eyes.

Double-D ran to Eddy and kneeled down next to him. "Eddy, Eddy!" He shouted, holding his hand in front of Eddy's face and holding up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?" "Mommy, I don't want to go to school, I just want to stay home and make cookies with you." Eddy replied whoozelly before falling into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness. Double-D, anxious and panicky, quickly looked over at Ed, only to find him in a similar state, a sight that caused him to fall into despondent despair. There was no way that they could get the Spinner to work now. With Ed unconscious, the only way they could get the Spinner to work was to get one of the other kids to operate the crank. Nazz and Jimmy were too weak to operate the crank at an enjoyable speed, Sarah was likely to kill him if he even suggested that she operates it and the rest were more likely to walk away and leave him with his broken friends than help him. There was no choice, he would have to close down the Spinner.

He slowly stood up, his head hanging low, his eyes close to the verge of tears. For most of Eddy's scams and projects, he had severe doubts about them and he would openly object to them constantly. He would help anyway, if just to try to give them the best chance they have to succeed, but he never believed in them and he more often than not was just waiting for them to blow up in their face. But this was one that he truly believed in. When Eddy had told him the plan early that morning, he was excited to try it and he had spent hours working in the intense heat making sure that everything would work and that it wouldn't fall apart and that the other kids in the Cul-de-Sac would enjoy. And now he wouldn't be able to see if it works, to see the smiles on the others faces and hear their laughter fill the air. All that work, wasted because the engine was knocked out by his little sister. He lifted his head up to the crowd and spoke to the rest of the kids, his voice nearly cracking as he tried and failed to keep his emotions at bay. "Well everyone, since Ed is unconscious and I am too weak to operate the crank, I guess you...you...you." He tried to finish the sentence, his voice close to blubbering as tears started to trickle down his face. He could feel the eyes of his neighbors piercing into his soul as he struggled to tell them that they could go home. Just when he was about to finally get the words out, an unexpected savior came to his aid.

"What's going on here?" A scratchy voice shattered the uncomfortable quiet of the afternoon. Double-D and the rest of the kids of the Cul-de-Sac and saw Marie Kanker glaring at them. She seemed rather serious, something that was an unusual sight. She saw the still lying forms of the other Eds out of the corner of her eyes, a puddle of drool coming from Ed's mouth forming at the base of his neck. She then looked at Double-D.

"What did you do?" Double-D blinked. While he did expect her to ask him a question, he didn't expect her to sound so firm. "Pardon?" "What did you do?" she repeated, this time in an irritated and accusatory tone. "You always do something to get cash for jawbreakers, something goes wrong and then you get beat up." "Well Marie" Double-D began to explain his voice audibly shaking with nerves as he tried to get her to calm down. "Nothing has actually happened yet." This didn't work, if Marie's glare intensifying had anything to say about it. "So we decided to skip step one and two and just went straight to step three then? Let me tell you, I'm not having a good day today, so give me one reason why I shouldn't fill your mouths with gravel."

The other kids backed away, some of them hiding behind Kevin and Nazz. They had been on the receiving end of the Kanker's fists before and they didn't want to be in it right now. "No, no, we weren't doing that." Nazz stated, clear panic nearly causing her to fall into hysteria. "Sarah was just a little too enthusiastic with her brother earlier and Eddy accidently got caught in the crossfire." "Yeah," a short, shaved headed boy with naive pale gray eyes interjected, his right arm clutching a plank of wood with a smiley face to his chest, his other hand switching from twisting his white t-shirt to grabbing his dirty blue sweatpants as he tried to rein in his own nerves. "Sarah had a bit of a tumble after escaping from one of Ed's hugs and she went a bit overboard. You can ask Plank if you don't believe me."

Marie kept glaring at him, her arms crossed in front of her chest, her fingers lapping against them as if itching to smash the plank of wood he was holding over his head. Eventually, she moved her glare over to Double-D, the glare weakening as she transitioned from rage to stone face anger. "So what were you planning on doing? It better not have been another dessert stand." Jimmy, Sarah and Double-D flinched at this as they remembered the scam that caused Jimmy to need braces, but Double-D quickly recovered and smiled at Marie in what he hoped wasn't a rictus grin. "No, it's just a simple spinning ride. However, Ed was the operator of the crank and he's well…" His eyes quickly flickered over to his friends bodies, flies now starting to circle their crumpled forms. "So, since there's nobody to work the crank I was just about too." "I'll do it."

Double-D and the rest of the kids were stunned. A Kanker helping an Ed. Inconceivable! Marie looked around at the kids, annoyed and aggravated. "Look, I don't want to be at home right now, and I have some energy I need to let out so let me operate the crank." Most of the crowd accepted this, a Kanker having an ulterior motive for something is expected, even common to them, but Double-D didn't. He was suspicious as the Kanker sister were usually never on their own when they could help it and yet here Marie was without any of her siblings. 'Somethings wrong.' Looking closer, he saw that her eyes looked a little red. 'Has she been crying recently?'

Knowing that he would be unable to get anything out of her, he decided that it would be best to ignore the matter for the time being. "Alright then Marie, I assume I don't have to tell you how to work a crank?" "Damn straight you don't" she muttered. "Right, I'll show you where the Spinner is and we'll get this thing up and running."

It was remarkable how well things were going. After moving his friends underneath an umbrella to stave off the heat, everything went off without a hitch. Marie was able to keep up a steady pace that was fast enough for it to enjoyable, yet slow enough to prevent serious injury. Some of the kids, like Jimmy and Nazz, were only able to go on it once before leaving, their faces tinged a sickly green, whereas others went on it multiple times, allowing Double-D to get a tidy profit off of them. As the hour crept by eventually most of the kids had left, leaving only Jonny behind with him and Marie, hemorrhaging quarters as Plank was still riding the Extreme Spinner. By this point the jar Eddy had earlier was nearly overflowing with cash, and Double-D figured that now would be the time for the fun to end.

"Marie, I was wondering if you could stop the Spinner, I think we're down for the day." "No." Came Marie's blunt reply as she kept turning the crank. Double-D looked over at her and winced a little. He thought that getting her exhausted with physical labor would cool her down, but that had apparently failed. Not only did she not look even remotely tired, she looked even angrier than she did before. Double-D looked down at her hands and saw that they were clutching the crank handle so tightly she was actually digging into the wood. 'She must be really angry, that handle is four inches thick!' Remembering what she said earlier, he cautiously went over, knowing that he would now have to try to have an actual conversation with her. 'I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm so very very dead!'

"Hey Marie," he asked, a visible tremor to his voice as if he were talking to a caged lion. "Is something wrong? You don't seem to be having a good day." If looks could kill, Double-D would've been in the ground three weeks ago. Marie's glare showed such intense rage that you could literally see flames replacing her irises. Her teeth were grinding so intensely they were sending sparks into the air and her hands had clutched so tightly that the handle nearly shattered from her grip. The Spinner started to go faster as she turned the crank with blazing ferocity.

"Oh nothing," she started, quietly at first but building in volume as she went. "It's just that I found out today that my life has been practically a lie and that its my dad's fault, that I was conceived by accident and that he abandoned his family because he cared about catching some 'traitor' than he did about caring for his family." As she kept ranting and turning the crank, Double-D smelled a strange ashy smell. 'Is something burning?' He turned towards the Spinner and his eyes widened in horror as he saw that it was starting to smoke. "And then I find out that I had been signed by my father back when I was one to attend a school out of the country that I've never heard of before and I'm supposed to go there just because my father did and I've been given no choice in the matter, as my mother and my father just expect me to go!" At that moment the top of the Spinner spontaneously caught fire. "PLANK! DON'T WORRY, I'LL SAVE YOU BUDDY!" Johnny shouted as he tried to race over the still spinning ride in order to save his wooden friend. And yet Marie didn't notice, as she only continued to vent, her voice rising to an enraged scream.

"Oh, and I'm going alone, my sister's get to go to the same public school as the rest of you just because I'm his biological daughter and they aren't, and I have to somehow get the supplies, with what money I don't know, it's not like we need it for important things like the heating bill, the electric bill and just so that we can have two meals a day." By this time the entire Spinner was a blazing inferno, its flames soaring through the afternoon sky as it got faster and faster. Johnny had somehow been able to climb over the open roof and unstrap Plank and was now banging against the door trying to get out. Double-D could do little but stare in dumbfounded shock as his efforts were consumed by the fire, as if they were the personification of the utter fury of Marie, who by now was screaming so loudly that she didn't even notice that the kids had just returned and were staring in complete amazement.

"SO NO, I'M NOT OKAY, BECAUSE MY LIFE IS BEING CONTINUOUSLY SCREWED OVER THROUGH THINGS THAT I NEVER KNEW ABOUT, A FATHER WHO I'VE NEVER MET AND I'M SUPPOSED TO JUST ACCEPT IT! NO QUESTIONS ASKED! ALL OBJECTIONS INVALID! YOU LOSE!RAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!" At that moment she stopped the crank and yanked the Spinner over her head, throwing a slightly smoldering Johnny and Plank out before slamming in repeatedly into the ground. Fire and burning pieces of wood spewed from the wreckage with every blow, causing the fenceline and the dry grass to light up and join the small wildfire that used to be Eddy's Extreme Spinner. All Double-D and the rest of the Cul-de-Sac could do was watch Marie's tantrum and keep as far away from the flames as they could.

"She's really lost it hasn't she Sarah." Jimmy asked, his terrified body shaking behind the girl he was using as a shield, who herself was looking at the monstrous sight before her with stunned horror. "Yeah, I think she did Jimmy." By this point the Spinner had been completely destroyed, with Marie now just swinging the handle on the now busted crank down on the flaming wreckage, surprisingly unharmed and untouched by the flames. She had devolved into little more than a ferocious badger, spewing hisses and curses that would cause the other to have had soap put in their mouths for three days, each punctuated with a blow on the pile of wood and flame that she stood on with the handle, which by this point was little more than a bundle of splinters.

In all the confusion, Double-D and the rest of the kids had forgotten about Ed and Eddy, who were still lying motionless on the lawn chairs they had been put on earlier. It was only when Double-D started to see that the flames were licking at the umbrellas that were providing their prone figures with shade that he rushed back towards the flames. "Marie! You need to get out of there! The entire yard is on fire!" Despite the roar of the flames, Marie was able to hear him. She looked up, as if she was coming out of a trance and was stunned to see that she was surrounded by a ring of flames. She looked back at the handle she was holding and saw that it too was on fire before she dropped it in surprise. Backing away from the pile as quickly as she could, she found herself back on the ground, the black ash that used to be grass caking the bottom of her pants.

'Did I do this?' she wondered. She had been so consumed by her own rage that the world had disappeared from around, so she was unsure what had happened in the last few minutes. The flames jumped towards her and around her and yet she didn't feel the heat that it conveyed. A wave of fire washed over her, and she saw that her skin wasn't burned. 'How is that possible, unless it's… magical fire.' Her eyes widened as she realized this, horror spreading across her face at this revelation. She started hyperventilating. 'Oh god oh god, I don't know what to do! There's magic fire destroying everything and I don't know how to put it out!' While she was panicking however, she saw that the fire was becoming more erratic the more petrified so got. 'That's it, the fire is tied to my emotions, it must be the accidental magic mom was talking about earlier. If I can calm down, the fire should go out!'

Slowly, Marie eased down the speed of her breathing, her frantic shallow gulps being replaced by calm, soothing deep breathes. With each successive breath the flames receded further and further, the air getting cooler and cooler. The umbrellas, at this point being half consumed by the flames, were suddenly snuffed out. The fence stopped burning, leaving a large hole in the fence line between Eddy's and Kevin's houses and the flames disappeared from the grass, as if blown out by a strong wind. Eventually the flame disappeared, leaving nothing but burned timber, white and black ash and a girl sitting in the middle of it all, passively staring at the ground, clutching herself as if trying to protect herself from a storm.

Double-D could hardly believe his eyes. What had once been a wildfire in the making had disappeared in less than two minutes for no reason. Heck, the fire had come and gone so quickly that if he hadn't seen the whole thing he might not have believed that it had happened at all. As far as he could tell the only reason that it had both appeared and disappeared in the first place was because of Marie Kanker. As he looked at her, he saw that she was starting to enter a stage of stunned disbelief and was looking around with a look of fear and...is that guilt. Before he could ponder this further however, Marie quickly stood up and scampered through the gap in the fence, looking like a panicked deer as she fled. Not sure what else he could do, he took off after her, calling her name as he desperately tried to keep up.

The rest of the Cul-de-Sac kids looked over the damage was befuddled amazement. Each of them too shocked to speak, their faces frozen as if they were still watching the fire that had existed there not five minutes earlier. Then a pained groan shook them out of their shock. "Uh, my head." Eddy groaned as he sat back up in the lawn chair, grasping his head and wincing in pain from the headache he was suffering. "I swear when I get my hands on that brat she's going to suffer for what she did to me." As he opened his eyes, he was stunned by the sight before him, of his yard destroyed and the ash that settled on what had been his latest scam. As he took everything in, he could do little but shout. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY EXTREME SPINNER!?"


	5. The Need for a Kind Ear

**I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner, why try to figure out how to put a disclaimer in the upload page when I can just write it into the document itself! So anyway, my schedule is a bit mixed up a little due to the fact that my family and I were out celebrating my dad's 60th birthday on Saturday so I wasn't able to upload the last chapter until the following day, but I'll be back on schedule soon. Also, I don't intend to do this story consecutively as I do intend to take a break from this series after I finish the story for Goblet of Fire (There is just too much of a singular subject matter that I could take and I really want to work on some of the other ideas I have before I go back to finish the story). Now storywise, I don't feel like last chapter was my best work. I just feel that it might've been unnecessary to what I was trying to do, but if you folks enjoyed it, I'm really happy about it. Now don't worry, I'm going to introduce the Wizarding World soon and finally get to what you want to see, but I do intend to cut back to the world of Ed, Edd & Eddy every once in a while, as Double-D needs the character development just as much as Harry and Marie do (and yes, he's coming in a bit, think another three to four chapters). I also intend to change up the story a bit, just fix some things that I thought were a little unreasonable, bring in some muggle entertainment to the wizarding world (seriously, they have wireless radio and yet nobody has brought in any vinyl muggle records? Or muggle books?) and expand on a few scenes we hear about but never see, as well as get Marie's take on them. And that's about it for now. I hope you all enjoy and I do not own Harry Potter or Ed, Edd and Eddy as they are the property of J.K. Rowling, At&T and Warner Media.**

**The Need for a Kind Ear**

Double-D stumbled through the trees, searching everywhere for the elusive Kanker. The irony was not lost on him, an Ed chasing a Kanker, but he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself if he didn't make sure that a fellow kid was alright. 'Curse my gentlemanly ways, once again getting me into a situation that puts me in the line of danger.' He continued his search, the humid air beating down on him as he moved through the woods, the sun heating the undergrowth the way hot stones would warm a sauna. He looked everywhere, through the canopy of the trees, in shallow dark hollows and even down by the shore of the Peach Creek River, but he found nothing. Despite this, he continued doggedly, even as the minutes went by and the sun started its descent towards its house at the end of the horizon. He was so determined in his search that he didn't notice where he was going until he bumped into someone, forcing him to fall on his back.

"Are you alright young man?" asked a kind and worried voice. He looked up and saw a middle aged woman with strawberry blonde hair and concerned hazel eyes looking down at him, bending over to make sure that he was okay. The voice was very motherly, as it was the same tone of voice that his mother used whenever she talked to him over the phone in the evening. He moved his eyes a little and saw that she was offering her hand. Grasping it, he was amazed by how rough and strong it felt, the bulge of muscles in her upper arm as she hoisted him up with nary a grunt telling him that she was a very strong woman.

"Yeah, yes ma'am." He replied, quickly remembering his courtesies. "I am so sorry for bumping into you, I wasn't looking for where I was going and I should've been more careful." The woman looked at him quizzically for a bit before chuckling a little. "Well aren't you a gentleman, I dare say that you'll have many women fighting each other to get you one day." Double-D blushed at this. While he wasn't the best when it came to recognizing social cues, even he knew that most of the female population of the Cul-de-Sac had crushes on him. He involuntarily flinched as he remembered last Valentine's Day. 'Never again'. "Anyway ma'am," he said, his flushed cheeks returning to their normal hue, "I would like to stay and chat but I'm afraid I'm busy looking for someone that ran in her a little while ago, so I really must be going." He turned to leave, but he felt the woman grab his arm in a vice. He was turned around and he saw that she was now looking at him with a bit of desperation and worry, though she was trying to hide it behind a strained smile.

"Well, what do you know! I happen to be looking for my daughter, she happened to run in here a few hours ago. How about we help each other, after all two people working together is faster than us continuing to search by ourselves. What do you say?" Double-D was a bit suspicious of the request. Maybe it's because her smile was too broad for his liking, but as he looked into her eyes, he found that he couldn't refuse her pleading gaze.

"Well ma'am, I am more than happy to be of assistance." He saw that he had made the right choice when he saw her relax into a more gentle smile. "Thank you young man, I'm grateful for your help." She stood up to her full height, grinned, moved her head in one direction and moved into the trees, Double-D following behind her. They walked for a little bit in comfortable silence. Double-D didn't know why but he felt safe in this woman's presence. There was just something in the way she held herself that put him at ease, almost as if this was just a normal occurrence for her. The fact that she never seemed to hover over him was positive factor in this, as he didn't particularly like people invading his personal space without permission, not even his friends.

As they started to crest a small rise in the treeline, the woman slapped her forehead and chuckled a little, shaking her head as she did so. "You must forgive me, but I completely forgot to ask you what your name was. Why don't I start, my name is Barbra." Double-D blushed, quietly berating himself for forgetting his manners. As he climbed over a fallen tree trunk, he responded. "Oh please forgive my manners again, for some reason I'm being very forgetful about my etiquette today. My name is Eddward, spelled with two D's, though most people prefer to call me Double-D."

Barbra looked over her shoulder at him, appraising him as if he were some piece of strange furniture. "Eddward huh? You wouldn't happen to be Dr. Vincent's son would you?" Double-D was slightly taken aback by this, as most people don't tend to make that connection with him, even his neighbors. "Yes actually, would you mind me asking how you made that connection?" Barbra smirked at him and leaned back against a tree, taking on a pose that looked very familiar to Double-D. "I happen to be part of the night shift of the nurse division at Bellin Hospital and I've worked with your mother on many occasions. We hit it off one day while we were in the cafeteria a few years ago and we've been friends ever since." She walked over do Double-D, bent down to his level and pinched his cheeks. "She told me so much about you," She said in a sweet voice. "But she never told me that you were this cute."

Double-D batted away her hand and pouted, his face as red as a traffic light. Barbra chuckled at how cute he looked, causing Double-D to huff before giving a slight smile. As embarrassed as he was, he felt giddy on the inside. Knowing that his mother talked to others about him with what he could see a since of love and even pride was a huge boost to his confidence. "Well ma'am, it really all comes down to the fact that mother taught me how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Proper dietary and hygienic habits tend to have a better overall effect on ones complexion afterall."

Barbra by now had to cover her mouth to keep herself from guffawing. "Polite and modest, you really are your mother's son." She slowly brought herself to calm down, before she looked over to the side, a sad and even forlorn look on her face. "I wish that she was more like me." She whispered. She then turned and started to walk further up the incline. Double-D, worried about his companion took off after her.

"Why do you wish that your daughter was more like you?" he asked, trying to keep up with her long strides. "Because she has too much of her father in her. I much as I loved him for his sense of humor, loyalty, intellect, craftyness and kindness, he was stubborn, abrasive, bull headed, vindictive, confrontational and could hold a grudge like no other, not to mention he was also a bully in his school years. Unfortunately for my daughter, she not only picked up his good traits but also his bad ones." By this point she was stomping through the forest, clenching and unclenching fists in an attempt to release some excess rage. They left the treeline and reached the top of the hill.

They had come to the top of a tall hill that soared nearly completely above the treetops. Flowers of red, yellow and lilac dotted a field of yellow grass, a small corpse of Basswood trees plopped right in the middle of it. The two of them walked across the field towards the corpse, Barbra stridding quickly towards the tree line while Double-D followed at a more leisurely pace. Every once in a while he would look at some of the fauna, snip a piece of New England Aster or Columbine flower from off the stem and place it in one of the plastic bags he kept on his person for further study but he eventually reached the corpse of trees where he found Barbra sitting underneath the shade of the trees.

He didn't notice it the first time he looked at her, but now that he was able to see her emotions completely exposed, he saw how tired she looked. Her entire weariness was unveiled, her body slumped against the tree, giving up all sense of effort of motion, other than the rise and fall of her chest with each exhausted breath. Her eyes were swimming in fatigue, prominently displaying her deep indigo bags and the two inch deep crows feet that framed her eyes. Her hair was a tangled mess, her calics sticking out over her face and twisting in many curls. And her face was a combination of despair, regret and self loathing. Double-D watched as tears built up in her eyes before cascading down her cheeks, letting out years of pent up grief.

Double-D sat down next to her, squashing down the slight dislike of touching the damp dirt underneath. He looked at her, trying to find the right words to say. "Um, ma'am, I'm sure that we'll find her soon, you don't need to cry, it will be alright." Barbra gave a dry chuckle, the lines of her mouth flickering upward for a second before returning into a frown. "It's not finding her that I'm worried about. I'm worried about something else." Double-D was curious. He normally wouldn't intrude on another person's private life, but Barbra was clearly distraught over something important and although he had just met her, he felt that if his mother trusted her enough to become her friend, than there was nothing wrong with prying into her struggles.

"Do you want to talk about it ma'am?" Barbra sniffled, and reached up to wipe away her tears with her left hand. "Well, I was rather blunt this morning. I have been getting concerned about my daughters behaviour recently." "Daughters?" Double-D asked. "Oh, right." Barbra said, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. "I forgot to mention that I have three daughters, I'm currently trying to find my middle child." Double-D couldn't put his finger on it, but for some strange reason a shiver of dread flew up his spine. 'Could she be, no no Eddward, it's probably just a coincidence. There are many people that have three children who are all daughters, that doesn't mean that she is the Kanker's mother.'

Silently, Double-D prompted Barbra to continue. "They've been getting a bit...rough I'm gonna say. I've been getting calls from both other parents and the school administration over the past two years. I've been getting accounts of my children cutting class, skipping school, bullying other children, home invasion, even a few counts of sexual harassment. And I've been willing to have an observant but relaxed hand with them. They were kids and I knew that this wouldn't last forever, that I or someone else would break them up and stop their antics, or that they would mature and stop what they were doing on their own. And that day eventually came when my daughter got an acceptance letter this morning."

"Is that why we're looking for you daughter, because she wasn't happy that you're sending her to a different school without her knowledge?" Double-D asked, a sense of foreboding building with each word they exchanged. 'Didn't Marie say that she was going to an out of state school back before the Spinner burned down?' he thought, trying to remember what she had ranted about a few hours prior. It was difficult to do so, as he had been more attentive to the destruction of his hopes and dreams that nearly killed Plank and Johnny. His thoughts were interrupted by Barbra sighing before she continued her explanation.

"Well really it was her father that put her in the fooreign school she's going to. I wanted her to go to a school in Salem, Massachusetts or to Ilvermorny in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, but her father wanted her to go to the same school he went to as a child, so a few months after she was born he registered her to attend Hogwarts." "Hogwarts? Why would anybody name a school after a swine fungus?" Double-D quired. Barbra smirked, her eyes glinting wistfully as she looked into the distance. "I admit I thought it was stupid too, but the school was founded more than 1,000 years ago, maybe the word ment something different back then." The smirk vanished as a more apologetic look moved into her retinas. "I can understand why my daughter is upset about going to a different school without her family, especially since my husband told me than the school is located far north in the Scottish highlands. I don't like knowing that she's going to be an ocean away from home for ten months every year until she graduates."

Double-D was now starting to panic. Everything Barbra has said and everything Marie had told him earlier had pretty much confirmed to him that Barbra was Marie's mother (though he did feel a rush of joy when he heard that he wouldn't have to deal with Marie for most of the year). Trying to quash the strange mixture of unease and jubilation that he was feeling, he looked at her with eyes blazing in keen interest. "And, how long would Mar, I mean your daughter be staying at Hogwarts?" he asked, hoping that Ms Kanker had missed the slip in his voice as he didn't want her to know that he knew who she was. The resigned look she gave him was evident, but he couldn't tell if it was because she did catch his slip up, or if because she had already resolved to make the best out of a situation that she had no choice but to be in.

"Her term starts on September 1st and ends on the 17th of June, every year for the next seven years." Double-D felt a sudden urge to dance a jig, but looking at Ms Kanker's longing gaze and melancholic posture, he mentally beat that feeling down and buried it as deep as he could into his soul. "You don't want her to go, do you?" Barbra wiped her eyes again, her hand coming away once again with tears. "No Eddward, I don't. If I had it my way, I would have my daughters go to the local public school with the rest of the kids and keep them together as long as possible, but my hands are tied on this, I have to send my little Paddie to a different school, far away from me. And that scares me."

Double-D looked both quizzically and understandably at Ms Kanker. He saw that she was about to essentially send one of her children and send her out into the world on her own without being able to guide her. To him, it was like a parent having their children go to college on the other side of the country. He scooted closer to her. "Paddie?" He asked in an attempt to improve her mood. She turned and gave him a pleasant smile. "Oh, her father had a nickname from school that his friends and I used to call him by named Padfoot and when she was born, I would call her Paddie." Double-D had to hide his smile behind his hand, knowing that if Eddy ever found this out he would use it as blackmail.

"Well, my middle name is Marion, so I can't really say anything about your daughter's nickname." They both chuckled, the tension built between them dissipating into the wind as they relaxed in the shade. They sat there, feeling the breath of the wind as it touched their skin, the arrival of the cool air forcing away the torrential heat that plagued the day just an hour earlier. Comfortable silence settled over them, the swaying dance of the tall grass cresting the horizon as they lay under the canopy, lost in their own thoughts of questions and times long past. Double-D's eyes would flicker towards Ms Kanker as he tried to build up the courage to talk to her again. He knew that he shouldn't have such difficulty talking to her as he hadn't earlier, but that was before he knew that she was the mother of his tormentor and there were just some suspicions that were difficult to bury.

Eventually, he decided to go with what he hoped would be an innocent topic. "You must have really loved him, if you still call him by his nickname after all these years." Barbra frowned and Double-D saw a mournful sadness consume her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories." Ms Kanker waved him off. "It's alright kid, you didn't know and you didn't mean any harm." She looked up into the canopy, lost in thought. Double-D thought he saw her eyes widen slightly, but it disappeared quickly. 'Must be imagining things.'

"Though, you aren't wrong. I loved him. Heck, in some ways, I still love him. There are times when I'm working late at night at the hospital or during a slow day at Antonucci's when I can't help but think about him. I see him everytime I see my daughter mess around with her sisters, when I hear her laugh and when she talks to me with excitement about any subject she's interested in. She looks and acts so much like him at times. She has his smile, his eyes, his loyalty, his humor and so many of his little quirks. In fact when she was younger and she let her hair grow out and before she dyed it she had his long wavy black hair." She said all of this with a sense of nostalgia, her voice filled with yearning and her eyes unfocused, gazing into a time gone by, a happier time, back when she was in the springtime of youth rather than the autumn of middle age.

"You miss him, don't you?" Double-D asked sympathetically. Barbra jolted out of her semi-conscious trance before slumping back, depressed once again. "Yeah, I do. The problem is I don't know if he misses me as much as I miss him." Double-D felt really uncomfortable. He didn't feel that he should be prying into Marie's paternal issues, which he could clearly see were at least partially caused by parental abandonment. "If you don't want to tell me I completely understand. I can see it is a very sensitive topic for you." "No, no." She muttered. "I've been keeping this inside me for nearly ten years now, I need to get it off my chest. Besides," she added, chuckling as she did so. "You're a lot cheaper than a psychiatrist. 25 cents right?" Double-D laughed at that. "No, not for this. Besides, the school counselor would tell me that I was charging too much if I asked for a quarter for psycho analysis." Ms Kanker chuckled before laying her arms over her chest and returning to looking at the canopy of the Blackwood trees.

"I can understand why he left. He was part of a special anti-terrorist group of the English police and his life was always on the line. Over time I guess he thought that if he distanced himself from me, I would be safe and I wouldn't be used against him. He would still come over to where I lived at the time every once and awhile, his friends from before I met him would check up on me every week but there were times when I wouldn't see or hear from him for days on end. It was...difficult at times, to deal with it, my children, an irant boyfriend and the constant worry that he or the friends I made because of him would be alright. Sometimes, *sigh* they wouldn't come back." Double-D felt a familiar sense of dread build in his gut, but this time it was because he didn't like where a tale was heading, rather than because he was about to be pounded into the asphalt.

"I take it this happened often." he stated. Barbra looked over at him, grief oozing from her eyes. "More than you think. The Prewett twins were killed, my old friend Amelia lost both of her brothers and her sister in law, the entire Mckinnon clan was wiped out. Those terrorists were ruthless. Man, woman, child, if they didn't fit into their world view or opposed them, they were killed, tortured or both. Some of the victims bodies were never found and others, only a few pieces were found." Barbra hiccupped, tears cascading down her face. "I remember going to church a lot in those days." she choked, a strangled sob on her lips.

Double-D was horrifyingly enthralled by Barbra Kanker's tale of woe and pain. She told him about how the government took harsh actions against suspected terrorists, how it got to a point where nobody was trusting anybody and about the nights when Padfoot would come to her apartment and collapse into her arms with grief. It amazed him how violent things got, and was even more amazed by how strong Barbra Kanker was. 'I don't believe I would've been able to stay so emotionally stable for as long as she has through all of that. Though granted it sounds like she didn't witness most of what she's describing.' He let her talk for ten minutes, taking mental notes as he did, until he felt that it was just getting too nauseating for him.

"What stopped them? How were these terrorists beaten? And how does this all tie into Padfoot's disappearance because frankly it sounds like he's…" "Dead? No, I know he's still alive at least. He promised me that I would have access to his vault when he died. I even saw him put it in his will. But every year I go to the bank and I ask if I'm able to access his account and they say I'm not, so he's still out there somewhere, where I don't know. For some reason nobody will tell me, not even his old friends." Barbra puffed out her cheeks and breathed out in frustration. Clearly this is something that had been bugging her for awhile. "I mean if he's being held somewhere against his will, fine I understand but I would like to know where he is damnit!"

She paused, breathing quickly and shallowly for half a minute as she tried to calm herself. Double-D saw the branches above them shake slightly, but he decided that it was a squirrel walking along the branch. He turned his focus back to the seething Kanker, wondering if he should test the rough water before him, cause as much as Ms Kanker said Marie took after her father he saw that she, like her sisters, had inherited her mother's temper. Ms Kanker was just better at controlling it. He did not like the look she had in her eyes, or how her teeth were grinding so hard that sparks were shooting out of her mouth. Visions of fire emerged from the depths of his subconscious. He shook his head drove them back to the dark cavern where they came from.

He waited for about five minutes for Ms Kanker to lose her visible desire to punch something before he steered the discussion back to what he wanted to know. "When did you last see Padfoot?" Ms Kanker winced, the memories of that night so painful to her that it was like a barbed knife had been dragged across her heart. She drew her knees up to her chest, trying to comfort herself before she started her sordid tale.

"I told you that Padfoot had many friends back then. Some were closer, some were distant, but there was one he was closest to most of all and that was his friend Prongs. Those two were inseparable, almost like brothers. They called each other everyday, we went on double dates with Prongs and his wife, Prongs even made Padfoot the godfather to his son. They went to school together, they worked in the same department, hell when Padfoot had run away from home when he was sixteen he lived at Prongs's house for a while. They had such a close bond that there were times where I felt like I was on the outside looking in. The problem was, while Padfoot had a target on his back, he was mobile and to most people was single. He could go to ground and disappear with little concern for others, Prongs couldn't. He had a wife that was just as involved in fighting terrorists as he was. Padfoot was the outcast son of a prominent family that supported the terrorists ideology, Prongs was the head of a family that had a history of being justice warriors. Eventually, Prongs and his family tried to go into hiding."

Unbenounced to her, she had gotten up and started pacing, moving in circles as she attempted to keep herself from breaking down. Double-D was regretting getting into this discussion, in fact he was trying to figure out a way to get out of this situation without upsetting Ms Kanker even further, but she continued before he could even utter a grunt. "Very few people knew where they were. Unfortunately, one of the people that knew betrayed them to the leader of the terrorists, a man named Tom Riddle. Riddle then went to where they were hiding and killed Prongs and his wife. Their son was the only survivor of that attack. Padfoot arrived at the aftermath, had his godson sent off to live with Prongs's sister in law and then came to me."

She choked, steadying herself up against a nearby trunk. Double-D got up and grasped her hand. "It's okay, it's okay." Barbra looked up at him with tear stained eyes and smiled at him. As much as she didn't approve of what her daughters did, or in the scam artist her daughter Lee was pursuing, she saw why Marie would fall in love with the intelligent Ed. 'If she had acted less hostile or assertive with him, they would've already been friends by now.' "Thanks, I needed that. I just, I knew them so well. Prongs and his wife would babysit, I would have playdates with our children and they were just so wonderful to me, they didn't care that I was destitute or a single mom, they were the best people I've ever met. And when Padfoot came to me and told me that they were dead, I just. I just." She pulled Double-D to her chest and started bawling into his shoulder. Years are pent off grief was released in one huge blast of emotion, breaking the dam, if only temporarily, that kept her anger, sadness, pain and broken hope hidden behind her strained smile and kind demeanor. Double-D stood there, unable and unwilling to release himself from her hug. After all he was a gentleman and a gentleman always offers a helping hand, or shoulder in this case.

Double-D let Ms Kanker let out all of her tears, recognizing how strongly she felt emotions and that she had kept those emotions bottled up for far too long. He even felt some drops hit the top of his forehead, though he did wonder where those had come from initially, he ignored them quickly in favor of giving his undivided attention to the woman grasping onto him like an anaconda. 'Never thought I'd see the day when an Ed is providing emotional support for a Kanker, but I've been in weirder situations. How were we able to affect the production of that episode anyway?' He felt Ms Kanker's grip tighten and relax, and heard her breath start to steady. By this point his shirt had gotten really damp and his chest was getting rather cold. She moved back from him and saw that she had been crying so much that her mascara had run down her face. 'Did she?' he thought. He looked down at his shoulder and saw that his worst fears were confirmed; his shirt was stained with black eye-liner. 'Filthy, filthy, filthy!' he thought, trying his hardest to keep himself from freaking out.

He looked up and saw that Ms Kanker was trying to keep herself from laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she chortled, trying to cover her laughs with her fist. "But you looked so much like your mother there. How she ended up becoming head of surgery I have no idea as after every operation she's constantly panicking and washing her hands for fifteen minutes afterward and she had a complete mental breakdown one time blood ended up in her face during surgery. I'm surprised she was able to finish it successfully before she fled out of the room to the hospital showers." She was now openly guffawing now and even Double-D was giggling along with her. "God, she was in there for a whole hour scrubbing herself, shouting about how she was unclean and that she should be quarantined."

The two of them laughed for several minutes, letting the tension between them dissipate like embers into the air. After a bit, Barbra smiled thankfully at Double-D. "Sorry about that. I'm not usually a crier but I just can't help it today." Double-D waved her off. "Oh I understand ma'am, this has been a rather intense day for you." he then felt dark clouds come over him. "I certainly didn't make this day any easier for you." He looked back up and paled as he saw that Ms Kanker was looking at him crossly. "Young man, you did nothing wrong here. If I didn't want to talk about my relationship with one of the father's of my daughter's, I wouldn't have, no matter how hard you'd have tried." Double-D blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. It felt weird being reprimanded by a parental figure that wasn't a teacher. His mother worked long shifts and his father was often on business trips, so having a disciplinary action like this was something he wasn't used to. It was an embarrassing and yet oddly pleasant experience.

"My apologizes, I'll try to keep that in mind." he placated. It seemed to be enough, as Ms Kanker gave a nod and a small smile afterward. They stood there for a few seconds before Double-D completed his inquiry. "Did he say anything to you before he left?" This time, there was little to no emotion on Ms Kanker's face. Instead, she answered normally, even a little blandly. "He told me that he was going after the traitor. He never told me who it was, as he told me that he would explain the full story once he caught him. He said that he didn't know how long it would take and that he'd return once he brought him to justice. And I haven't seen or heard from him since." She turned away from him and looked out towards the setting sun that was starting to touch the tops of the trees with its fiery hand. "I don't know if I'll ever see him again, and if he misses his daughter growing up I'll never forgive him, but I've come to terms with why he left. I don't regret meeting him and I'll treasure the moments we've had together but I've moved on. I would like to see him again, but I don't think I need him in my life anymore."

Double-D knew then that the subject was closed and as he saw the naked moon hanging isolated in the afternoon sky, he knew that they couldn't delay their search. "Ma'am, I think we should get back to searching for my friend." "You mean Marie?" Double-D froze in shock as Ms Kanker turned back to him with a sly smile, not so dissimilar to her daughter on her face. "Kid, I've been around the block plenty of times and she told me everything about you. I knew you knew who I was an hour ago." Double-D shivered a little. He now knew where Marie got her cunning and patience from. Ms Kanker frowned for a split second, before going over and putting her hand on his shoulder, causing Double-D to flinch.

"I know that this was difficult for you to do, and I'm glad that you care about Marie enough to see if she's alright, but sometimes it's best to let someone work through their issues on their own. Marie is stubborn and she tends to need to work things out on her own, something that unfortunate all of my daughters have. Don't worry, I'll find her soon. You should probably get home before it gets dark." Reluctantly, Double-D started to leave. After he went a few steps he turned around.

"Ms Kanker." "Oh please, call me Barbra. Ms Kanker just makes me feel old." Double-D blushed. "Right, um Barbra, there was an incident involving a ride I built and she might've accidentally set it on fire." Barbra's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. 'God I must've made her really mad for her to perform that level of accidental magic.' She shook herself out of her shocked state and settled into a firm neutral pose. "Don't worry about it. I'll have a talk with her and make sure that she doesn't do it again." Satisfied, Double-D left, leaving Barbra standing seemingly alone under the shade of the trees. She chuckled, "Alice, your son is going to become a fine young man some day, I hope you're prepared to beat off all the girls that'll be coming after him." She then got sheepish and scratched her chin, a blush dusting her cheeks. "Oh if I was only twenty years younger."

She walked over to one of the Blackwood trees and looked up into the canopy. "Did you catch all that?" she asked. Through the roof of the tree a few locks of blue hair could be seen. "Yeah." came a tired and slightly bitter reply. Barbra wearily sighed. "Look, I admit that I could've told you what you were better. I definitely shouldn't have told you on your birthday just after your letter arrived." No response came from the tree. "If you want, I'll just write a letter back saying that you didn't want to go." A hopeful reply came from the tree. "Does that mean I can go to Peach Creek Junior High?" Barbra winced, knowing that her daughter wouldn't like her answer. "No," she said weakly. "I've heard that terrible things have happened to young witches and wizards who didn't train their magic properly." She quickly tried to placate what she knew was an angry and depressed young girl. "But that doesn't mean you have to leave the states. I've heard that Ilvermorny is a great school. It's in Massachusetts and you can come home for Christmas and we'll call on the phone everyday and." "No, I'll go to Hogwarts." Marie jumped down from the tree and looked up at her mother's dismayed face. "If dad wanted me to go to Hogwarts, there had to have been a reason. Besides, I might be able to find out what happened to him if I'm closer to where he lived." She turned and started to walk away. "And besides, I need some space. I just need sometime to myself."

Barbra watched her daughter leave mournfully, before grasping her face with her hands. 'Great job Barbra. You better hope that you haven't lost her forever because you kept putting off telling her.'

**GOD this took forever. I kept writing and getting distracted and before I knew it, a whole week had passed. So yes, Sirius Black is Marie's father. But she isn't going to know until the end of the third book. Will I make her think that Pettigrew is her father, God no. I feel gross just thinking about it. No, I'm going to make that Lupin. It will help with some strained drama I have for the third book. So I have most of the plot points set up. Strained mother daughter relationship, check. Double-D open to more positive interaction with the Kankers, check. And I'm finally getting to the wizarding world. I'm going to spend one more chapter in the muggle world before taking us to Diagon Alley and introducing the Harry Potter plot point and following it wherever it takes me. If you have any questions about the story, leave it in the review screen or send a message and I will reply to it at the beginning of the next chapter. See you next time!**


	6. The Deputy Headmistress

** Alright, I'm rejuvenated and that minor case of writer's block is gone so back to Harry Potter and the untapped potential that are the Kanker sisters. You know that episode where Ed, Edd and Eddy disappeared for most of the episode because they were trying to find a glove and the writers just focused on the Cul-de-Sac getting paranoid about what they might be doing and we got insight into their characters that normally isn't seen when the Ed's are around? Ever since I've been getting back into E,E and E, I've always thought there should've been an episode focusing on the Kanker sisters with the Ed's only coming in at the end through happenstance, but then again I was too young to be a story writer or a producer, so what do I know, I wasn't in the writing room. So we finally get the wizarding world, or one person from the wizarding world. I know that some of you will be disappointed that it wasn't Hagrid, but I felt that Hagrid going to see Harry was a special case. After all an eight and a half foot giant isn't something you see every day, even if his name is Andre. Besides, she's the deputy headmistress, this is sorta in the job description. I'm going to add Barbra as another important character in the cut backs, mainly because I'm really getting into her character and adding some interaction with a few adults is something I want to work with and I feel is necessary for the full story. And now, onto the show.**

**The Deputy Headmistress**

Marie sent the letter with her reply later that day, the great grey vanishing into the disappearing sun. Since then she's been spending most of her time moping around the junkyard, finding used car parts and broken down engines and trying to make something with them. It wasn't really how she wanted to pass the time before she was carted off to Hogwarts, or as she called it 'The Wizarding Correctional Facility', but staying inside the trailer has gotten rather tense recently. Marie understood why her mother never told her that her father was a wizard and that she was a witch. If she had only a few days a year to spend with her children and they didn't want to relive bad memories, she would do what she did, but that didn't mean that she was happy about it. If anything, the main reason she decided to go to Hogwarts was to have a bit of petty revenge against her mother. Not seeing her on Christmas seemed like a great idea right now.

And that was just her mom. Her relationship was her sisters were even more strained. Lee was bitter about the entire situation. Whether it was because she had the wrong father, that Marie was 'leaving the pack' or because she saw it as another example of their mother's favoritism she didn't know. Lee wouldn't answer whenever she asked and more often than not treated her like she wasn't there, something Marie was not comfortable with. She was actually missing the constant fights they had whenever she tried to make a power grab and her older sister's brash confidence and was hoping that this separation was only temporary. And May, oh sweet naive May. She was now walking on eggshells around her, as if afraid that one wrong word would cause Marie to turn her into a frog. This aggravated her. Just because she was a witch doesn't mean that she had changed, so why the heck was May acting so paranoid around her? So yeah, better to remain as far away from that oppressing atmosphere for as long as possible every day, even if she got bored of trying to make a V6 engine from the seventies work long enough to power a pair of blenders that she'd throw trash into. As long as she kept busy.

This was unfortunately something that she could only do during the day, as once dark came she was back in the purgatory that was her domestic life, dealing with her siblings avoiding her like the plague, trying to read without feeling the need to rip out the pages and trash the living room and lying awake at night bittering cursing her lot in life. At times she felt as if she was the punching bag for the universe. Being illegitimately born into poverty and living most of your life in Englewood before moving to a trailer park in northern Wisconsin tends to cause one to adopt that sort of outlook in life. But throughout all of that she felt that as long as she had her family with her she could bare with it. Now, it seemed as if even that had been taken away from her. And even that she could stand, as she comforted herself with the knowledge that her siblings attitudes and her own anger would be only temporary, if it weren't for her education.

Many people knew her as the 'Smart Kanker' as she was definitely the most devious of her siblings but not many people knew just how smart she was. She didn't like to advertise it because it would completely ruin her tough girl image, but she was actually a honor student that regularly ranked in the top ten of the class and her dream (other than tying the knot with a certain sock hat wearing geek) was to go to college, something nobody in her family had ever done before. Knowing that she didn't have the money needed to pay the tuition, she hoped to get a massive scholarship that would've paid for it. Now however she might as well forget these dreams. From what she saw from the book list they didn't offer any of the subjects she needed to graduate from middle school, let alone high school. If she tried to follow her dream after Hogwarts, she would be lucky to get her GED by the time she was 25. That was what she resented the most, besides exiling her from her Oven mitt.

'My Oven mitt, god it's been two weeks since I've seen him hasn't it?' she thought as she spent a rainy afternoon trying to read a book on Artemisia Gentileschi. Key word being 'try' as she had been staring, lost in thought, at the same paragraph for the last ten minutes. Seen is a broad term though. She had spotted him wandering around the construction sight and the junkyard, sometimes with his friends and sometimes alone, looking for bit parts and reusable junk for whatever scam they were working on at that time, but she left him alone. She just didn't feel like bothering him or, considering that he never took anything during some of his solo expeditions, being bothered by him. She stopped participating in 'Ed hunting' as well, she just didn't feel in the mood right now. She had been starting to miss him though.

'Maybe I should see him before I go.' she thought half-heartedly. She looked over and saw her mom sitting at the table, doing a crossword puzzle. 'If she'll let me.' For some reason her mother hadn't gone into the auto shop today, even though this was one of the days where she didn't need to work at Antonucci's. Her mother had given an excuse of saying that there was no work to be had at the shop on a rainy day but Marie didn't buy that. Her mother never missed work unless it was for something important. Maybe that was why she couldn't concentrate on her book, she was just too tense, as if she were waiting for the other shoe to drop. She looked over at her sisters, who were sitting on the coach on the other side of the room, staring at the tv and watching a monster truck rally. She sighed depressingly. She wanted to be over there watching it with them, but May had flinched when had she started over there, so she instead went to the bookshelf and put as much distance between herself and her siblings as she could. She looked back at her book.

She had finally finished the page when she heard a knock on the door. Her mother jumped up and walked to the door, as if she had been expecting someone. "God I hope she didn't have a hard time getting here. The mailman has a hard enough time as it is." Ms Kanker opened the door and gave an apprehensive smile. "Ah Professor McGonagall, I hope the journey wasn't too difficult?" she asked politely. "For the most part it was alright, but the buses in this country really need to improve their accommodations." came a stern, yet kind voice that had a hint of a Scottish accent to it. "It took four hours to get here from Milwalkee and the sitting arrangements were some of the most uncomfortable I've ever had. Better than the Knight Bus but not up to any other public transportation back home." "Ouch, sorry about that. Why don't you come in Professor and get out of the rain?"

Barbra stepped aside and in stepped a formidable woman. She was about 5'9" and rather thin, with black haired speckled with a few small dashings of gray pulled back in a bun. Her thin lips were pursed together in a stony frown and a pair of square wire frame glasses accentuated her cat like amber eyes. She wore an emerald green pants suit with matching dress shirt and tie and a tartan blood red and gray vest along with a brown tartan overcoat and matching Sherlock Holmes hat that covered her ears. Marie already didn't have a good opinion of her, as she looked like a stereotypical harsh disciplinarian, and a Kanker and following the rules mixed as well together as nitro and glycerin. That opinion only worsened when Professor McGonagoll took off her hat and coat when Barbra offered to hang them up, causing her to look even more business like.

Professor McGonagall stared at her as if she were a curious specimen that she had placed under a microscope and didn't quite know what to make of it. "Would I assume that I addressing Marie Kanker?" she asked tersely. Marie stared up into her eyes, determined not to be the first one to blink. "Yes ma'am." she replied coldly. Professor McGonagall's eyebrows knitted together. "Your mother wrote to me about your reluctance to attend Hogwarts, so I will let this attitude of yours slide right now, but be warned, there are other students that do want to learn magic at our institution and you will not let that your attitude impact their ability to learn and enjoy their time there. If you are unable to follow this rule you will have detention with me for as long as you are unwilling to fix it. Am I clear?"

Marie failed. She blinked and she refused to look into Professor McGonagall's piercing gaze. She reminded her of Grandma Lois whenever they had gone to her house when she was alive. Just, firm and no nonsense, yet caring for young children, the perfect tough grandma. She stared at Professor McGonagall's short heeled shoes in an attempt to hide from her eyes. "Crystal." she said, unable to hide the bitterness from her voice.

Barbra saw that the tension in the room was building and desperately attempted to dissipate it. "Professor, why don't you sit down and I'll make some tea? Would you like a cup?" McGonagall turned toward Ms Kanker, allowing Marie to feel comfortable with looking at her face again. "Sure Barbra, do you have any Earl Grey?" Barbra smiled at McGonagall. 'Good, that worked. I didn't want Maire to be considered a problem child before she even got to England.' "Indeed I do. I tend to keep it for when my daughters get sick. Why don't you and Marie sit down at the table while I get the pot to a boil. Oh, Lee, May! Don't be rude to our guest. Turn off the tv and come join us at the table!" Marie heard her sisters grumble over on the other side of the room, but they turned off they tv and and came over towards the dining table. She looked at them out of the corner of her eyes and saw that May was looking at Professor McGonagall with petrified terror while Lee was glaring suspiciously at her.

This mismatched group sat down at the table in uncomfortable silence, McGonagall sitting primly as if she was back at her office talking to a wayward student, May sitting shakingly and rigidly as if expecting an axe murderer to burst into the house, Marie slouched forward and staring at her hands, refusing to look at McGonagall out of intimidation and Lee glowering at McGonagall as if everything that was going on was her fault. The only sound that was heard was the building whistle of the copper kettle in the other room. The analog clock seemed to tick loudly in Marie's head, the silent dull clunk echoing through her head with the force of a jackhammer. She looked at her fingernails and saw that the red nail polished was chipped and faded. 'I should really fix that, don't want to look too grubby for our guest.' she thought, her mood transitioning from pensive to disdain. Her eyebrows knitted as she glared at her hands and scowl crossed her face.

The whistling of the teapot died down after a moment before her mom reentered living room, carrying a wooden cheese board like a platter with the kettle and four mugs on top of it as well as a container of tea bags and sugar bags. "I'm sorry Professor, I only have tea bags, I know how much you liked tea leaves." McGonagall looked up at Ms Kanker and settled into a neutral mask. "That's fine Barbra, I've fallen out of favor with tea leaves thanks to one of my colleagues. Do you have any sugar?" "Yes, it's the white bags, the yellow one's are just artificial sweetener." McGonagall accepted the black mug that was offered to her and put a bag of Earl Grey in the mug, followed by three bags of sugar. She stirred the crystals into the liquid until it dissolved, tapping the small tea spoon nobly against the edge. She then watched how the rest of the Kanker's had their tea. Barbra had left for the kitchen to get a jar of honey, as McGonagall knew she enjoyed her tea with a spoonful of it. She saw that the ginger haired Lee prefered two bags of artificial sweetener and the blonde May was struggling to put eight bags of sugar into the tea, as her hands were constantly shaking. But Marie concerned her, as she just let her mug sit with no addition to the tea, much like her father did. She covered her frown with her mug, as a sip of scalding tea slipped down her throat.

Barbra soon returned and prepared her mug of tea before sitting down between McGonagall and May, seeing that her youngest daughter was on the verge of having a panic attack. Once everyone was gathered, McGonagall began speaking softly and clipply. "Now Barbra, you have informed me that young daughter, Miss Kanker here, while she has agreed to go to Hogwarts, is doing so under protest." "Yes." Marie responded loathingly, her glare finally returning to McGonagall's face. "Trust me, if it weren't because mom told me that there have been disastrous consequences for not learning magic, I would be going to the local public school right now." If McGonagall was insulted, she didn't show it, apart from the thinning of of her lips. "Indeed Miss Kanker. Wizard children without the proper training struggle to contain their magic, often to destructive and tragic consequences." Marie and her sisters flinched. They didn't want to know just how destructive those consequences were.

Barbra quickly cut in. "You have to understand Professor, see my daughter has always wanted to go to college one day and the main reason she's upset about this is because it will interfere with her dream." McGonagall sat back and rested her chin between the crest between her index finger and her thumb as she pondered this piece of information. While students wanting to wanting to continue their muggle schooling weren't unusual, nobody had wanted to do so in nearly 200 years and these were craftsmen skills, as these students in question needed education to inherit their parents' businesses, basic mathematics, accounting and in some cases literacy, but this is much more complicated. Barbra and by extension Marie were asking Hogwarts to allow her to study complex subjects like biology, ecology, physics, chemistry, calculus, algebra, classic literature and poetry, even political sciences like philosophy and judicial law. In essence they were asking them to let her learn two school curriculums.

"I can not guarantee that we'll be able to allow you to learn muggle subjects Miss Kanker." replied McGonagall, her eyes staring sympathetically at Marie. "Magical education is a complex and strenuous process at the best of times and if we allow you to study these subjects on top of what we teach, I fear that it will have a negative impact on your health. I have seen students who've taken only 9 to 10 subjects at Hogwarts devolve into hysterics and suffer mental breakdowns. I don't want to imagine what would happen to you taking 13 to 15 subjects in your first year, let alone the 15 to 18 subjects that you'll take in your third through fifth years." Marie's glare intensified. It didn't matter to her that McGonagall was showing her that she cared about her students ambitions, their welling being and their success, she saw her as the physical embodiment of a world trying to force her into their mold of what they wanted her to be.

"I can do it." She growled, her eyes blazing with determination and hatred. "I'll pass every subject put in front of me, wizard or otherwise. And I won't just pass, I'll be at the top of the class. Don't you dare underestimate me." Her sisters were looking at her with a sense of trepidation, mainly because they were worried about another bout of accidental magic (they've heard out how Marie committed arson by accident), Barbra was looking at her with a look of concerned pride, and McGonagall lips had pursed again, caught awkwardly between a frown and a thin smile. "Very well Miss Kanker," she spoke stiltedly. "I will talk with Professor Dumbledore to see if arrangements can be made for you. But I expect you to put as much effort into your magic classes as you would in your muggle ones, am I clear?" Marie stared at her with slight surprise. She had thought that she wouldn't have agreed to at least help her and yet she did. 'Maybe I should give her more of a chance. It's not her fault that I have inherited magic from dad.' "Yes ma'am." She said with slight awe.

McGonagall reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope before handing it to Marie. "Now onto business. Professor Dumbledore and I had arranged a series of flights to London, as well as your accommodations once you arrive. Inside that envelope are your plane tickets as well as directions to the inn you'll be staying at." Marie opened the envelope and founding the tickets and a piece of parchment with directions to some place called the Leaky Cauldron as well as something unexpected, a small brass key. "What is this?" she asked. "That is the key to your trust vault at Gringotts, the International Wizard Bank." Marie and her sister stared at the key in stunned silence, as neither of them had ever had a bank account and now Marie had just been given one as easily as if she had been passed a bowl of cereal.

While the Kanker sisters were staring at the key with childlike wonder, Barbra whispered to McGonagall. "Professor, I've never taken her to her father's vault, she doesn't know about what's inside it. I can't even access it. So, just try to be patient with her when she sees it." "I treat all my students fairly Barbra, you don't need to worry about how I'll take her reaction to her finances." "Professor," Barbra whispered nervously. "I can't even give her an allowance. Most of the cash she's gotten was stolen by her or her siblings." McGonagall frowned. "I see. Don't worry, if things go south I'll set things back on course." Ms Kanker nodded gratefully as her daughters broke out of their stupor. McGonagall looked back at the three girls and saw that they were looking neutrally at her.

"The first flight will you from the Austin Straubel International Airport to O'Hare and from there the next one will take you to Heathrow." "Wait, O'Hare?!" Marie exclaimed sethingly. "Are you telling me that I have to get out in Chicago?!" McGonagall looked coldly at Marie. "The airlines we put you down for are United Express and Britiah Airways respectively. The only airport United Express planes go to from Austin Straubel is O'Hare, which is the closest British Airways line there is." "Lady, I spent my formative years in Englewood. I saw fifteen murders before we moved here back when I was eight and I lived in a dilapidated apartment with busted electricity and one bathroom per floor for the entire apartment block. I have plenty of reasons not to go to Chicago." "Well unless you want to have your mother take another two hours just to go Milwaukee Mitchell and take the line to Newark." McGonagall stated strictly, "You're going to have to put your anger behind you." Marie folded her arms and put her head on it. She'd be daft if she said that she would be more willing to go to New Jersey than to Chicago.

Marie looked down at the tickets and found a third ticket there. "And this?" She asked. "That is a ticket for the London Rail system and it will allow you to get to Paddington station and then to King's Cross if you remain in the station. Paddington is connected to Heathrow, so you'll be able to get to Camden easily." Marie put don't the ticket and picked up the instruction sheet. "And the Leaky Cauldron? Why am I staying there and not at a Marriott, or the Berkeley." "Because that is the entrance to the Magical London's shopping district. It is primarily for proximity and safety. The barkeeper Tom, is a friend of Dumbledore's and should be able to keep you from encountering any unsavory characters, unlike muggle hotels which would just ask questions of why an eleven year old girls are staying at a hotel without their parents." 'Well, can't really argue with that logic.' she thought as she put the items back in the envelope.

McGonagall finished her tea before setting it down gently on the table. "That seems to be about it. Your first flight leaves at 2:25 pm on the 27th and your second flight leaves O'Hare leaves the same day at 8:35. I will meet you at the Leaky Cauldron on the 29th to help you buy your supplies and tell you how to get onto the school train." This shocked Marie and her siblings. "Wait, she's going there by train?" Lee gruffly asked. "I thought your kind would have magical transportation or could teleport." McGonagall breathed heavily through her nostrils, looking reminiscent of an angry bull. "We do have ways to travel magically and what you call 'teleporting' is practiced by adult wizards, it is a tradition for students to take the school train to the castle. Are there anymore questions you would like to ask?"

Lee didn't move, as she just glared at McGonagall, but May timidly and quietly asked. "Uh yes. What's a muggle? You keep using that word to describe some of the subjects Marie wants to learn." McGonagall shifted her gaze to May and her eyes softened, putting the timid 10 year old at ease. "A muggle is a term used to describe people that don't have magic, though North American wizards prefer the term nomage Miss Kanker. I was using the term to describe your studies, as while wizarding subjects like Potions and Herbology involve aspects of Chemistry and Horticulture respectively, they are not they primary focus in terms of understanding like it is in the muggle world." McGonagall then took out her pocket watch and looked at the time. "I really must be leaving Barbra. I have other new students I need to meet back in Britain. Thank you for the tea."

McGonagall rose and moved to the coat rack, Ms Kanker following close behind her. "Minerva, it was great to see you again." Ms Kanker said as McGonagall put on her tartan coat and hat. "Do you need a ride to the airport? I don't want you to take the bus again," McGonagall strode towards the door and opened it, the continuous bombardment of the rain pelting the metal step and the mud. "I thank you for the offer but I'll have to decline. I'll just aparate to a small hill I saw outside of Chicago and take the direct flight. It'll take no more than an hour. I hope you have a pleasant evening." And then she left, the only sound besides the rain being the single sound of a crack similar to a bullwhip.

**Well that was over. One last chapter before we head to Diagon Alley and more drama. I do intend to give McGonagall more of a role in this, not so much as Marie's mentor but more of a guidance counselor. I just hope I can characterise her right. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time.**


	7. And to England then

** Before we start I'd like to discuss the title a little. While I am an American (a fact that gets harder and harder to state with an ounce of pride with each passing minute) I do prefer the Anglo-European title more than Sorcerer's Stone like it was in America due to semantics. Sorcerers could apply to any wizard, from powerful warlocks like Voldemort to first year students learning the wizarding ropes. Philosopher means a learned thinker, someone who looks either inward or at the outer world and ponders deeper human existence. Men and Women like Voltaire, Karl Marx, Freidrich Nietzche and *sigh* Ayn Rand. And Nicolas Flamel is and was such a thinker (yes, he was a real person) and could've and did (at least in Harry Potter) create a stone for immortality. And of course, alchemy itself is intrinsically tied to the philosopher's stone, as any fan of Fullmetal Alchemist would know and it ties into deeper medieval, scientific and mythological history. But of course Scholastic Publishing Corporation thought that Americans were too stupid to get the British slang and deeper historical references, much like they thought that we wouldn't get the ending to **_**A Clockwork Orange**_**, and changed the title and the stone to something holey generic. So yeah, screw you American distributors. That explains my preference, now this will be a shorter chapter as Marie will be traveling and thus it time will pass quickly for a bit with only a little bit of the Leaky Cauldron being discussed, as most of this chapter will be internal thoughts and monologues. Try to catch the Shakespeare lines here. I intend to have them appear from time to time. And finally (because I forgot this last time), I do not own **_**Harry Potter **_**or **_**Ed, Edd & Eddy**_**. The licenses are respectively held by J.K. Rowling, At&T and Warner Media.**

—**-**

**And to England then**

The sound of hundreds filled the air of London Heathrow Airport as dozens of men, women and children rushed through the halls of baggage claim towards the exit lobby to either the street outside or to the tunnel that lead to Paddington Station. Businessmen, families either going to or returning from vacation, exchange students, pilots and helmsman on break, airport employees and reporters going to and fro like rats, the sea of bodies crashing against walls, elevators, carts and moving sidewalks. Among them was a young pubescent girl with blue hair pulling a black trunk behind her on its rear wheels and carrying a brown ruck sack over her shoulder, inconspicuously blending in with her snow grey sweater mostly covered by a burgundy red short sleeved shirt. The only thing anyone would see if they looked at her for more than ten seconds was an ordinary girl glowering as she charged towards the train station.

Marie trudged through the corridors of the airport, plowing past a rack of magazines as she went towards the train line. She was once again brooding, something that she had been doing even more since her first meeting with Professor McGonagall. While her relationship with her sisters hadn't gotten worse, it hadn't gotten better. May was no longer fearful of her, but she had fallen into a depressed funk that she couldn't get out of despite the rest of her family's best efforts, while Lee now refused to be in the same room as her, glaring at her as if everything that was happening to their family was her fault. As a result, Marie had taken to sleeping on the couch in order to avoid the toxic atmosphere. She was almost relieved when the time came for her mom to take her to Green Bay so that she could start her long journey to wherever her new school was.

She arrived at the terminal and boarded the train to Paddington, sitting down in one of the tables seats by the window. She looked out at the platform, lost in her memory of the last few moments she spent with her mother as the doors closed and the train left the station, an airplane soaring into the rising sun.

_The sun was starting to set as a beat up rust red 1970 Range Rover Classic pulled up to the parking lot outside the departure terminal, sliding into the area outside the entrance. Marie got out of the right side passenger seat and walked to the trunk of the car while her mother got out of the left side driver's seat. She opened up the trunk and started to heft her heavy trunk out of the car. "Marie, let me help lift that." Barbra said as she started to approach her struggling daughter. "I got this!" growled Marie, glaring at her mother with eyes blazing with hate. Barbra backed away with a small look of fear in her eyes as Marie hurled the trunk out of the back of the car. Marie then pulled the handle out of the side of the trunk and charged towards the double doors of one of the entrances, her mother jogging to catch up with her._

_ The two of them entered the lobby check in area, the white floor and walls giving it a sterile feel to in, broken by the rush of departing and arriving passengers and the long and winding lines transporting their luggage to the cargo line that would lead to the planes they would soon board. The sound of hundreds were punctuated with the drone of the escalators, the buzzing hanging in the still air. The two of them walked in silence to one of the lines, slowly creeping towards the front with the speed and energy of a dying snail._

_ Ms Kanker looked sadly at her daughter as she grumpily shuffled forward another three inches, the traffic jam as lively as hibernating snake. What had once been a close and loving relationship had become cold and fragile. Marie refused to be in the same room as her mother, the feeling of hurt and betrayal increasing with each passing day. Barbra had tried many times to try to reconnect with her, but Marie always shook her off, usually spending any time Ms Kanker was home either locked up in her room or outside in the junkyard. In fact the only reason Marie let her mother drive her to the airport was because she didn't have enough money to afford the bus fare, and even then she refused to talk to her throughout the entire ride._

_ Another person finished checking the bag in and getting their ticket scanned. The line shuffled forward another foot. The Kankers rounded the end of one of the rope lanes. The noise faded in and out, too lost as they were in their heads to see the world around them outside of vague observations, one doing their best to keep herself from strangling her own mother, the other trying to find the words to say to her daughter while she still had the chance._

_ "Marie, I know this isn't exactly what you imagined what you would do this year," Barbra started sympathetically before trying to give it a positive spin. "But hey, you're going to Great Britain. None of the Kankers have even left the country before ever since we came over here from Holland back in the 17th century, so you're the first to do so in generations." Marie angrily huffed like a bull, her fist clenching and unclenching the handle bar. Barbra looked tentatively at Marie, but saw that she was listening before sighing. 'Least that's better than last week, though that might only be because she has nowhere to go to avoid me.' Not wanting to stop, she quickly gathered her courage._

_ "Besides, this might be a great opportunity for you. No record of bullying that could spread, new faces to meet and friends to make, interesting classes and the ability to make a name for yourself. Doesn't that sound great?" "Yippy." Marie replied sarcastically, hoping that this line would hurry up already so that she could get to the front. "You know," Barbra said slyly, "your father would always talk about how great the food was there. Food from table to table stacked in piles more than a foot high." "And the bathrooms run with chocolate milk and paps blue ribbon and the trees are made of bubblegum pops, spare me this sancrine bs, I'm not in the mood to listen to it." Marie interrupted spitefully. The line moved again. Marie turned another corner, putting her directly across from her mother, the crossing rope the only thing separating them. Barbra tried to look her daughter in the eye, but Marie stared resolutely ahead, with nary a flicker appearing on her face._

_ Barbra looked pleadingly at her daughter. "Marie, I know you hate this, but please don't make what's happening a miserable experience for yourself. I want you to have fun, enjoy yourself and give everything your best effort. If you treat everything at Hogwarts as if it's the worst thing ever, that's all it will be." Marie turned to her mother, her rage simmering beneath the surface. "I'll give it my best, Barbra." she spat, relishing her mother flinching when she called her by her first name. "But I guarantee you that when I come back I'll tell you that I wish to be at Peach Creek Middle School, even if I know I can't." She finally arrived at the front of the line and prepared to register her luggage. "Don't bother seeing me off. I don't want to deal with you right now."_

Marie was shoved out of the train at Paddington by the surge of the crowd. She stumbled grouchely through the crowds, sliding between bodies as she fought against the current that threatened to carry her to White Chapel. She was tired. She had had a terrible flight. She couldn't go to sleep on her first flight because it took her only an hour and a half to get to Chicago and by the time her second flight took off it was 11:30 at night. Combine that with the uncomfortable seats and the small child that wouldn't stop kicking the back of her seat at five in the morning and you get yourself a Kanker more than willing to want to strangle someone.

She eventually reached the train line that would take her to King's Cross station and boarded, purple bags hanging heavily from her eyes as she boarded the train and went into one of the compartments. She rested her head against the window trying to sleep, but her mind was plagued by guilt.

'Maybe I shouldn't have said those things to mom. She was only trying to cheer me up.' she thought morosely as the train rumbled through the streets of London, the tall apartment blocks and modern skyscrapers clashing with rococo and baroque style buildings. Angry as she was with her mom, she knew that she shouldn't blame her for what was happening to her, as she clearly had as much control over their situation as she did. But she was eleven, she was allowed to act like a brat for something this important. But that excuse didn't shake away the image of her mother watching her leave in anguished tears.

The train ride passed in silence, the whole time passed in depressed thoughts. She missed her sisters more than anything. She couldn't stand the separation they were going through. She missed challenging Lee's authority, she missed their make up sessions, she missed hanging out with them in the school boiler room, she missed talking with them, she missed pulling pranks with them and she missed hanging out in comfortable silence with them. That was the main reason she resented going to Hogwarts. In her mind, the school's very existence was responsible for tearing her family apart.

She exited King's Cross station and took out the note with the directions and crossed the street, heading towards Camden. Due to her thoughts, the world came in and out of focus like a scratchy radio. Every once in awhile she would return to the real world to see a street sign to know where she was going or a stoplight so that she wouldn't run into a car or a bus. But for the most part she remained caught in the chaos of her mind. The only person she missed more than her sisters was her Oven-mitt. She refused to see him before she left, even after three weeks. She had seen him in the junkyard, and in fact overheard his friends (or at least the short braty one) commenting in bitterness that he had gotten rid of his Kanker while they can't get rid of theirs (least her sisters were still enjoying themselves without her). She wanted to see him, desperately wanted to see him. She would dream about him at night and would wake up needing a cold shower in the morning. But so far she had been able to resist the sirens call and she knew that apart from her sisters he was the only one that knew that she would not be with the rest of the Cul-de-Sac kids at Peach Creek Junior High. She hoped that he wouldn't be as happy as she knew his friends would be.

It was while she was walking down a crosswalk when she saw it, and she wasn't particularly impressed when she did. If you weren't wizard, it was unlikely you would've paid the Leaky Cauldron much notice anyway. Nestled in between a Waterstones book store and a vinyl record store was a grubby looking pub, painted black with peeling paint and an old work sign that looked like it hadn't been changed since the mid 19th century. Marie looked down at her list, wondering if she had gotten the wrong address. When the note refused to lie to her and stated that yes, she was at the right place, she threw it down on the ground and grinded it under her feet for a good minute before she crossed the street and entered the establishment, and the inside wasn't any better. If anything, it looked even worse.

It was a dark and grim place lit by faint buzzing gas lights and a fire on the far side of the room. Smoke hung heavily from the ceiling, most of it produced by a gaggle of warlocks smoking pipes at a table to the right of an angled bar, painted in worn blood red. There were several people here besides the warlock, a few seedy looking wizards and witches, that she could assume, either drinking deeply from large mugs alone at several tables or chatting with each other. She thought she heard someone say how outrageous it was to charge seventeen sickles for an ounce of dragon liver, but she was to busy looking for the owner to care.

She approached the bar, which was helmed by an old bald hunchbacked man with many wrinkles and few teeth, early reminding Marie of a walnut. "Excuse me" she asked politely as she looked over the top of the counter, her eyes barely passing over it. "I'm looking for a guy named Tom, who's supposed to be the owner." The bartender looked over the counter and smiled a comforting smile. "Ah, you must be Marie. Professor McGonagall told me that you would be here some time today." he then extended his hand and shook hers. "I'm Tom, owner and bartender of the Leaky Cauldron. Your room has already been paid for the next four days as well as your tab for the night, so don't worry too much about the cost. Let me show ya to your room, it's right upstairs."

He walked around the bar and gestured Marie towards a set of stairs that lead up to a worn landing of gray chipped paint. She followed him up the steps and down the musty hallway to a decent looking room on the right side. It was simple looking with a queen sized bed, a mirror over an armoire, a nightstand and a dresser of drawers. While sparse compared to most muggle hotel rooms, this was a step up compared to the room she shared with her sisters back home. She rolled her trunk to the foot of the bed and looked around. "Would you like something to eat my dear? I can bring it up to the room if you wish." Marie turned to Tom, a bit in a daze as the realization that this really happening started to set in. "Yeah, can I have some grilled chicken and mashed potatoes please?"

Tom nodded and left the room to get Marie her order, leaving Marie alone with only her thoughts and her memories. She moved around the bed and opened the drawers of the nightstand. She was both relieved and disappointed that there wasn't a bible in the drawer. She walked over to the mirror and parted her hair that she could see her bags. "You really should go to bed dear, nothing worse can for your looks than a lack of sleep." "Augh." Marie stumbled from the mirror in surprise, tripping backwards over her feet as she scrambled back from the armoire. At that moment Tom entered the room carrying a platter with her order and a mug.

"Here you go miss. If you need anything else just call me." he said as he put the tray on her trunk before seeing her on the floor staring at the mirror. "You all right miss?" He asked, neighborly concerned. Marie looked up at him and back at the mirror warily. "I must be suffering from severe sleep deprivation." she said as she stood back up again. "Because for a second I thought that mirror was talking." Tom smiled ruefully at her and chuckled a bit while shaking his head. "Nearly forgot you're not used to talking mirrors. Sorry about this, they usually try to give fashion advice. Not many people take it though." Marie nodded slowly and sipped from her cup, gasping as a scipy liquid went down her throat. "What is this?" she asked incredulously. Tom looked quizzically at her. "It's pumpkin juice. Normal wizard fare that is. Besides, thought Muggles were used to having pumpkin in their drinks." Marie thought about telling him that it was pumpkin spice that Muggles put in their coffee and beer, but she couldn't really deny that he wasn't wrong. "Yeah we do, I just never had pumpkin juice before. Don't really have the funds to afford those specialty veggie drinks." she said morosely.

Tom left with another assurance that if she needed anything she need only ask, leaving her with her meal. She sat and ate the mashed potatoes and chicken, digging in ravinasly. Before long the meal was done, with only the trash remaining. Marie was tired at this point, her eyelids drooping as she closed the shutters. She walked over to the plate and moved to throw the food in the trash when a chicken bone fell off the plate. She threw the rest in the trash first and went over to pick it up so that it could join its brethren in the trash when she looked closely at the bone in question. It was a wing bone, picked clean of meat and sinew, nothing remarkable about it, but it caused a melancholy to fall over her.

Her little sister liked to collect chicken bones, so much so that there was a whole suitcase full of them that she and her sister Lee had buried under the trailer in the dead of night because they were cluttering their room. It didn't matter what kind they were, as long as they were from a chicken then she'd clean them and put them away in her room as long as they were unbroken. May had a favorite bone though and those were wing bones. She liked them the most because of their rounded curves and smooth interiors. Marie always hated May's habit, but for some reason she couldn't stand to throw this bone away. All she saw was her sister's smiling face as she looked at the bone, a smile she hasn't seen in nearly a month.

'The art of our necessities is strange, that can make such vile things precious.' she thought as she turned the bone in her hand. She walked over to the nightstand and slipped the bone into the top drawer before turning off the lights and slipping into a fitful and troubled sleep.

—**-**

** Sorry about the delay, had a few interviews this week and then I had to watch the dogs because of election day. Hope you catch the lines. See you next week, I'm off to go listen to some Slayer while I can.**


	8. Diagon Alley

** My apologizes for how late this is but I've had a very busy week. I've had to send out many resumes and I've had two interviews this week with another one more coming this wednesday. I just got a job at Hot Topic and I start soon so expect to only so an update once a week for the foreseeable future. But finally we get to see the wizarding world. We get to see Marie get her wand, see her react to the wizarding world and the financial and currency system (which is confusing and unwieldy as heck, there is a reason that the gold standard isn't used anymore and there is a reason we initially used paper money and created national standardized banking) and maybe a cameo or two. I had to do a lot of research into wands so that Marie could have a wand that matched both the personality Danny Antonucci gave her and the depths of personality I'm giving her. If there is one major problem I had with how Antonucci worked his show it was that with the exception of the three Ed's, and even then that was to an extent, the characters were less like characters and more like archetypes. The stock jock character, the stock hot girl, the stock upstanding nerd, the stock over demanding younger sibling, the stock doofess and etc. Antonucci never really went beyond that, and I know that cartoons have had plenty of use from stock characters. Total Drama, Friendship is Magic and The Loud House use stock characters all the time, sometimes those stock characters are the main characters, particularly in the case of The Loud House. However, all of these shows that I mentioned gave their stock characters a lot more depth then having them be simple stock characters, especially if they had multiple episodes of development and they weren't used for a joke or if they were a villain, and Ed, Edd and Eddy never really did that, and the Kanker sisters got it the worst. The best I could get of the Kankers outside of some basic knowledge, like having different fathers, being poor and in the case of Marie, having artistic talent, is that Marie is jealous of other women being romantically interested in Double-D and that May is interested in both Ed and Double-D. Because of this, I and other writers basically have to invent a personally, heck we have to invent a person out of a bunch of feathers and a wishbone so that we can tell a story. So imagine how difficult that is when you have to make a wand for that invented personally. Thank god for .com, it was a big help and the guys and gals that spent their time writing up that info deserve all the thanks they can get (and yes, there was a musical reference in that sentence). So, I think I should wrap this intro up here, I know that this will look shorter on the site but it's taking up more than a page of space in my document files. So without further ado, enjoy the chapter, I do not own either Harry Potter or Ed, Edd and Eddy and the rights are held by J.K. Rowling, AT&T and WarnerMedia respectively.**

**Diagon Alley**

The shining eyes of the dawn light peeked over the rolling hills and pastoral fields of the English countryside before raising its head slowly over the horizon, cresting the houses and skyscrapers of central London, flooding the sky with paints of orange and pink. As the sun invaded the streets and alleys, its long arm spread through the windows and doorways of the city, claiming the souls of its citizens from the kingdom of Morpheus and guiding them to the shining realm of Helios. It eventually battered through the dingy shutters of the Leaky Cauldron and blasted its shining lance into the eyes of a comatose blue haired girl, urging her to rise and face the day. Marie's eyelids fought a ferocious yet vain battle against the strength of the sun's forces, but they were eventually compelled to surrender to the waking light.

Marie did not have a good night's rest the day before. Homesickness and narcissistic moroseness had plagued her dreams, not helped by how uncomfortable she felt. Sure the bed didn't have any cheap springs in it and she had more room to move around in since she didn't have to share it with her siblings but the unfamiliar environment she was it just made it difficult to rest. Being alone in a room with a semi-sentient mirror didn't help either. She groaned as she slowly rose from the mattress and groggily shuffled to the mirror. 'God I look like a wreck.' she thought as she looked in the mirror. Her hair was a tangled mess with parts of it sticking up at weird angles, her eyeshadow had started to flake off during the night and the rumpled clothes that she had been wearing for the last two days were hanging loosely from her body. She sniffed her shirt and recoiled slightly from the stench. 'Definitely should changed my clothes last night.'

She quickly got a fresh outfit from her duffel bag and went to the washroom to freshen up. While she was surprised initially went she saw that the inn had showers, she cleaned herself up, changed into an outfit consisting of black jeans and a gray ACDC _Fly on the Wall_ tour t-shirt, reapplied her blue eyeshadow and went out into the landing, grabbing her rucksack as she headed out the door. As she walked downstairs she saw that the main parlor looked better in the light. Tom had opened up the downstairs windows to brighten the room, giving the bar a washed out gray look. While it wasn't much of an improvement over the previous day, it did make the inn seem friendlier. She quickly descended the stairs and marched over to Tom, who was chatting with some early morning patrons.

"Ah, good morning Marie. Did you have a good night?" Tom asked cheerily, looking over the bar with a grin that wouldn't be out of place on a hockey player. Marie gazed dwirelly up at him, some of the bags from the previous day still present under her eyes. "As good as it could be." she replied. If Tom noticed that she was being vague with her statement, he gave no indication. Instead he said to her, "That's good to hear. Was a bit concerned last night when you came in all listless and all, but I'm glad to see that you got some flush back in your cheeks." He served a customer a morning sherry before leaning over the counter. "Professor McGonagall just came in ten minutes ago. She's waiting for ya over there at the table by the door. Don't worry about paying for breakfast, the Professor agreed to take care of it."

Marie turned swiftly around and looked over her the door. If it weren't for the stern face, horn rimmed glasses and cat like eyes she wouldn't have been able to recognize her. Where she had once worn a dark green suit she now wore a long, flowing emerald green robe and complementary wizards hat. She looked regal, from how straight she sat to the slight uptick of her nose, which made her look out of place amongst the seedy customers. Marie reluctantly trudged over to her, grumbling maliciously under her breath. A chair scraps harshly across the wooden floor as Marie yanked it out and parked herself on the edge of it.

"I see that your attitude hasn't improved since we last met Miss Kanker." Professor McGonagall spoke sniffily. "Sorry if my attitude doesn't please you, we trailer folk tend not to care about what the well to do think about us." Marie replied snidely, drawing out every every word with as much venom as she could muster. McGonagall gazed harshly at the young child, as if she were a cockroach or some other unwelcome pest. "You're lucky that school hasn't started yet, otherwise I would have taken off a few points for your cheek." This left Marie confused, something that she couldn't keep from appearing on her face. "Points?" McGonagall's irritation receded from her face a bit as she patiently responded to Marie's inquiry. "When you arrive at Hogwarts you will be sorted into one of four noble houses; Gryffindor, Huffelpuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. You will be a part of that house for all seven years, living with fellow members of that house, going to the same classes with them and eating at the same table with them. While you are at Hogwarts your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will cost you points. At the end of the year the house with the most points will win for their house the house cup, which is a great honor to achieve."

While it was a simple explanation to most, all this did was raise more questions for Marie. "I'm sorry but, first, what the hell is a Huffelpuff. Two, why is one of houses named after a freaking pun? Three, why are students are encouraged to compete against each other for a trophy. Doesn't that just foster a toxic environment? And finally, and this is more of a statement than a question, Ravenclaw can't be a name for a house, it is a term for a body part. How on earth is that noble?" McGonagall pinched the crease between her eyes. 'Merlin give me strength.' she thought, idly wondering what she had done to deserve this. "The houses are all named after the founders of Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Huffelpuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. As for the house points, it is believed that in order to encourage their students to do their best in their studies, the founders felt that it was in their best interest to foster friendly competition." Marie stared blankly at the Professor. "And how did that work out?" "Better than you would think."

Tom then came over with two plates of bangers and eggs and a pitcher of orange juice, which McGonagall thanked him for before pouring some of the beverage into her mug. "Now we have a long day ahead of us Miss Kanker, and I have a few things that I need to do before term starts so be sure to finish your breakfast quickly. I'm sure you want me out of your hair as soon as possible." Marie didn't refute what she said, instead choosing to silently eat her meal. Once they were finished McGonagall guided Marie towards a side door that lead to a barren and patched back area. McGonagall then drew out her wand as she approached a brick wall opposite the door. "Now," she began, turning her head to make sure that Marie was playing attention. "Be sure to memorize this, you'll need it in order to get into Diagon Alley in the future." She then turned and tapped a brick three up and two across and two up from a crack in the wall three times.

Slowly a small hole appeared in the wall, growing wider and wider with each passing second. It consumed the wall as it grew, brick and mortar vanishing into thin air until eventually a large archway materialized, leading to a twisted cobbled street. "Welcome to Diagon Alley." McGonagall said as easily as if she were a hotel greeter welcoming a new visitor, and indeed it might have been, but as Marie entered the street, she might as well had shown her the inside of Busch Gardens. The bedlam of chaos filled the alley, with dozens of witches and wizards busiling from shop to shop, looking at their wares with curiosity through a window or rushing from door to door in order to get the necessities they need for the week. There was so much activity going on that Marie was twisting her head constantly to try to see everything. One shop was selling various cauldrons of copper, pewter, silver and brass, another had barrels of bat spleen and eel eyes outside their windows and yet another had a small crowd of boy peering through windows at what seemed to be a set of broomsticks. So many sights and sounds that she had never experienced before overwhelmed her senses, to the point that she was only vaguely aware of McGonagall grabbing her arm and guiding her through the crowd.

McGonagall lead Marie to a crooked snow white building, towering corinthian columns holding up a marble overhead fifteen meters above them as they went up the stairs to a set of burnished bronze doors. Marie come back to her senses when she noticed a small, wrinkled looking creature wearing an ornate scarlet and gold uniform. The creature had a swarthy, clever face with a well trimmed pointed beard and very long fingers and feet. He bowed them through as Marie and the Professor passed, grinning smugly at Marie dumbstruck face as she disappeared through the threshold. As they passed the two of them came to another set of doors guarded by a pair of those creatures. "Professor, what are they?" Marie asked inaudibly. She wasn't sure if the guards would be offended, but she wasn't taking any chances considering that both of the guards were carrying halberds. "They're goblins Miss Kanker. Best not to cross them if you can, as they are a rather proud and unforgiving race, with grudges that last many generations. You do not want a goblin as your enemy." McGonagall then pointed towards the door, which had a grim poem that looked like something Edgar Allen Poe would write.

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed_

_For those who take, but do not earn_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"Well, no legacy is so rich as honesty I guess." Marie squeaked, now really hoping that those halberds were as far away from her as possible. She barely noticed the two guards bowing as she entered the main lobby. White marble reflected the sunshine that was blasting down through the skylight dome high above the main hall. Over a hundred goblins sat at a pair of giant counters that spanned the room from end to end. Some scribbled notes and figures into large ledgers, other weighed stacks of coins on brass scales and others were peering at precious jewels of green, red and blue under eye glasses. On each side of the room dozens of doors lead to various parts of the bank, with other goblin guards leading dozens of people in and out of them. In fact Marie was so captivated by the hustle and bustle of bureaucracy that she didn't even realise that McGonagall had dragged her to an open counter until the teller at it was talking to them.

"Professor McGonagall, how nice to see you again." the teller snarked sarcastically. "Let me guess, another muggleborn that needs to exchange her pounds for galloens." He then looked over at Marie, sneering at her hair and her punk clothing. Marie glared back, used to people like the teller looking down on her just because of her lifestyle choices. McGonagall didn't miss how the goblin was looking at her new student and her eyes quickly turned to ice. "No actually, Miss Kanker here is coming to make a withdrawal from her account." The teller scoffed, clearly not believing her. "Well then, Miss Kanker just has to give me her key and I'll have one of my associates take her to her vault." Marie smirked as she reached into her pocket and drew out her golden key, relishing the shock and disbelief that consumed the teller's smarmy face as she reached up and put it on the counter. The teller examined it vigorously, determined to find some fault that would identify it as a fake, Marie's smirk growing with each increasingly desperate attempt. By the time the teller slumped forward in defeat, Marie looked as if she had just gotten Double-D coerced into being lab partners for the year.

"Everything seems to be in order." the teller muttered grimly. "I'll have an attendant take you to your vault. Griphook!" On his command another goblin came over, bowed and silently ushered them to one of the doors that lead from the lobby. Expecting another marble corridor, Marie was surprised when instead they were taken through a narrow, torchlight passageway that sloped downwards. Marie had to carefully edge herself down due to how steep the slope was, at one point grasping onto the railing when she slipped on a particularly wet patch of rock. Eventually the tunnel lead to a set of rail tracks on the floor. There Griphook whistled and a small cart zoomed down a passageway towards them. McGonagall politely declined getting in the cart, saying something about how she had done that enough times for a lifetime, leaving Marie to take off in the cart with her temporary chaperone.

The shaking cart moved with a mind of its own, moving up, down, left, right, corkscrew, loop the loop, round corners, between stalagmites and stalactites, there were even times when the cart was flipped upside down and Marie was loving every moment of it. The ride reminded her of the one time her mother had taken her and her siblings to a theme park called Mondo a Gogo down at the shore of Lake Superior, when she rode the many roller coasters that dotted the park. The wind blowing through her hair, the rush of adrenaline that came with every move of the cart and the exhilaration with every plunge into the miles of caverns beneath the surface made keeping her from throwing her hands in the air difficult, but she was able to manage it until the cart came to a sudden halt beside a door resting inside an alcove in the wall.

The two of them exited the cart and Griphook approached the door with the key. Marie's nerves were trembling in a combination of anticipation and dread. She didn't know how much money her dad had left behind, so as the green mist oozed out of the opening vault door, she was worried that there wouldn't be anything in there. But when the smoke cleared, she might as well have entered the cave of wonders. Towers of gold coins stretched from wall to wall, columns of silver coins covered ornate tables, cabinets and chairs and mounds of bronze coins covered every inch of the floor. With all the wealth in that vault she was probably worth more than Bruce Wayne. She was so shocked as she went in the vault and let the coins part between her fingers like sand, she forgot to be angry.

"The galleons, that being the golf coins, are the most valuable currency we have." Griphook explained, breaking Marie out of her greed filled gaze. "The sickles are the silver coins and the bronze coins are knuts." Marie bit her lip, as she didn't trust herself not to giggle after finding out that there was a coin called a knut. "The value rate is 29 knuts for every sickle and 17 sickles for every galleon. Now,`` he stated as he drew out a brown leather bag and filled it up with a healthy variety of sickles and galleons. "This should be enough for a day and some more. I don't expect you to need to purchase much while at Hogwarts, but best to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it." He then gave the bag to Marie, who gazed at it with some sort of masonic reverence. Griphook looked at her weirdly. "Are you alright miss?" "I'm sorry, I've just never had this much money before in my life, and to know that this is mine, I just…" She didn't really know what to say, but Griphook seemed to understand as he gently guided her back to the cart.

Leaving the bank with McGonagall was like a teenager going to the mall to the first time with their parents credit card. If she didn't remember that she needed to purchase the stuff that was on her list when McGonagall slapped her hand away from a gold cauldron, she would've spent it all on frivolous nonsense. But she was able to get her cauldron, potions ingredients, scales, telescope and a few dozen rolls of parchment and pairs of quills without issue and only slightly resisted being pushed into a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions.

"Ah Minerva," a small witch dressed in a mauve robe exclaimed in barely restrained joy. "I see you brought another one this year." "Last one for this year Janet." McGonagall responded friendly, a tone that was so jarring to Marie that she had to pinch herself. "After this it's getting ready for term." "Indeed, indeed." Janet chuckled as she guided the two of them to a platform stool. "I swear this time of year keeps coming up on me faster and faster. So much to do and too many people to do it for. I was working on another young lady just before you came in. If you can get up on the platform deary, I'll be with you in a minute." Marie got up onto the platform with only a small amount of confusion and discomfort before looking over at the platform next to her as she waited to be condemned to an hour of stiff backs and pin pricks.

On the platform standing next to her was a girl about her height with long, wavy platinum blonde hair, cold icy blue eyes and a bored expression on her face. She was currently being fitted by a second witch as Janet Malkin was busy getting Marie's measurements. When she turned to Marie, her gaze was analytical and sterile, as if she was being scanned by an MRI machine.

"Hogwarts I take it?" she asked, her emotionless drown as cold as her face, making her almost doll like. "Yes." Marie responded politely. The girl looked at her with a bit of curiosity. "You're not from around here are you." she stated. Marie looked at her, slightly irritated. "No, I'm not. I'm from Wisconsin." "Ah, you're a Yank then." the girl emotionlessly asserted. "I thought there was something odd about your accent." Marie took a moment to touch her lip. She knew that she had a bit of a midwestern accent but it wasn't that pronounced was it? "I do wonder, though, why are you coming here when most of your kind would be going to Ilvermorny." For some reason Marie was getting more ticked off with this girl, maybe it was because of her haughty attitude or the way she looked at her like some puzzle piece. "My father went to Hogwarts and he wanted me to come here, so here I am." she replied frostily. The girl rose an eyebrow, unperturbed by her attitude.

"What house was he in?" she asked suddenly. "What?" Marie asked. "What house was he in? My family has been members of Slytherin house for hundreds of years, as well as the families we associate with, so it's not often I meet someone that had a parent in another house." Marie looked at her weirdly, wondering if she should really answer this question. "I don't really know what house he was in, but my mother described him as a courageous, if brash man that fell out with his family over ideology." She saw the blonde girls widen slightly, as if some lost clue had fallen into her lap. "Forgive my manners, but I never did get your name." She turned and offered Marie her hand. "My name is Daphne Greengrass, heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass." Marie, now completely on the back foot as she realized that she had been talking to a blueblood the whole time, cautiously extended her hand. "Marie Kanker." "Kanker?" Daphne stated as they grasped hands. "That's dutch isn't it?" "Yeah, old name from my mother's side." Daphne smirked for some reason at that.

"You're down dear." Ms Malkin said, stepping back to allow Daphne to jump off from the platform. As her she got her purse out to pay for the robes, she continued to talk to Marie. "I hope you do well at Hogwarts, Kanker. It's not often that I find someone that I actually like." Marie thought she saw a small smile on Daphne's face as she exited the store, but at that moment she was jabbed in the hip with a needle, so she couldn't be sure. She got her robes shortly afterward and then went with her to get her books from a shop called Flourish and Blotts.

There were tomes and pamphlets stacked to the ceiling, shelves filled with books of every color and size and layout. So many people had crowded into the shop that Marie saw a chubby looking boy with blond hair stumble and nearly knock over a book stack. It might as well have been heaven if Double-D had been here. Trying to squash the rising feeling of melancholia that was building within her, Marie quickly bought her books and left with McGonagall.

"Alright, this is our last stop. I trust that you'll be able to make your way back to the Leaky Cauldron without me." Marie looked up and saw that the two of them had stopped outside a rustic and black shop. Above them a faded sign with golden letters said _Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.E. _Pulling out her list from her pocket she saw that indeed a wand was the only required item left on her list. She looked up at McGonagall with resignation. "Well, see ya." Marie tried to turn so that she could enter the store, but was stopped when McGonagall grasped her shoulder. "Before we part, I have to give you the name of the school train." She gave her a small business card laminated in gold leaf. Marie took the card and looked at the single line of serif lettering on the front. "Platform 9 and 3⁄4? You can't expect me to believe that such a train exists, right?" When she didn't get a response, she looked up and saw that she had been left alone in the crowded, twisted street.

"Crazy old bat." she grumbled as she stomped through the door to Ollivander's. "Leaving me high and dry without even telling me how to get onto the platform, who does she think she is?" She looked around and saw nobody at the front desk of the cluttered and ramshackle shop. "And the receptionist is on break. Just my luck." Feeling she had nothing better to do, she went over to a small, spindly sitting stool that looked as if it had recently supported someone too large for it to hold up and settled in for a long wait.

"Ah, welcome." Marie shot out of the chair as she turned towards one of the cabinets to her right. Staring down from a ladder was an old, withered looking man with large pale eyes that shone in the dark of the shop. "I thought I'd be seeing you soon. My name is Garrick Ollivander, master wandmaker." He climbed down from the ladder and vigorously shook her hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Kanker. Dumbledore wrote to me about you, an ambitious mind and stubborn temperament and well." He gestured to all of her. "I can see he was right about that. Something that you inherited from father, along with your eyes." He walked behind the desk and brought out a measuring tape. "Can you tell me what your wand arm is?" "Um, I'm left handed." Marie relied cautiously, as Ollivander's eyes were giving her a bit of the creeps. "Hmm, not the most unusual response. I've had a few tell me that they were ambidextrous. Can you extend your arm, that's it." He measured her from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, knee to armpit, shoulder to floor and around her head.

As he measured her, he started to gab. "Every Ollivander wand has a powerful magical substance, Miss Kanker. We use unicorn hairs, the tail feathers of phoenixes and dragon heartstrings. No two wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are the same. For example, your father favored a twelve inch English Oak wand, courageous and loyal. Though I should say that the wand favored him, as it the wand that chooses the wizard afterall." Marie noticed then that the measuring tape, which was now measuring the distance between her eyebrows, was doing this on its own, as Ollivander was busy getting boxes off the shelves.

"That'll do." he said, the measuring tape dropping to the floor as if it were a puppet whose strings have been cut. "Here, try this one. Blackthorn and dragon heartstring. Eight inches. Good for defensive spells and jinxes. Just give it a wave" Marie took the wand and prepared to swing it. 'This is stupid.'she thought as she looked at the wand. She waved it for a second before Ollivander yanked it out of her hand. "No, definitely not." he muttered as he got out another wand. "Here try this one. Applewood and unicorn hair. 9 and ¾ inches. Great for charm work." Marie tried again, but she had barely raised it before it was snatched out of her hand. "No, no-here. Cedar and unicorn hair. 8 and a half inches. Loyal and intelligent."

This continued in the same way for a good ten minutes. Cherry and phoenix feather, Cypress and dragon heartstring, Hornbeam and phoenix feather, Pine and unicorn tail and on and on and on. With every failed wand added to the pile, Ollivander got more and more giddy. It was like looking at a kid in a candy store. "Tricky customer eh? Not to worry, I've never failed to find a wand for a wizard that's come through my door. Ah, let's try this one. Dogwood and phoenix feather. Fourteen inches. An excellent wand for those willing to have fun and excitement." Marie took the wand and felt a sudden warmth shot up her arms. She twirled the wand and a blast of wind shot from the wand blowing the wands off the desk and onto the floor. "Ah excellent, excellent. I dare say I'll be hearing so many stories about you whenever I see Minerva again. That will be seven galleons and have a pleasant afternoon."

Marie left the shop, her arms laden with bags as she walked down the street. She stopped outside a small cafe for lunch, ordering a plate of standard fish and chips. As she ate she watched the various witches and wizards go about their day, a sea of greens, blues, purples, browns and blacks passing by her vision as she sat under the umbrella that shaded the table.

It was hard for her to believe that any of this was real. Everything was just going too fast. She pulled a handful of coins out of the pouch Griphook had given her and started to caress them between her fingers. All of this was hers, and she had no idea how to feel about it. Anger at the fact that she had a fortune at her fingertips for ten years without realising it, exasperation at her mother for not telling her about it so that she could help with the bills, smugness for being able to do something that her sisters would never be able to do, depression for having to spend the rest of her schooling in a different school than her sisters and Oven Mitt, excitement to learn magic and wonder on everything surrounding her clashed in a ferocious roar of cannon and rifle shot, each trying to destroy the others in order to become the dominant emotion. Unexpectedly, the emotion that would win was resignation.

'I can't go back.' she concluded, letting the coins fall one by one back into the bag. 'Too much has changed for me to return to those times. I need to try to move forward with this.' She looked down at her wand. 'That means accepting this.' She put the wand between her hands. 'It would be so easy to snap this.' She rolled it between her thumb and her finger. 'But that wouldn't solve anything. All it would do is cause me to go back to that creepy old man and cost me another 7 galleons to replace it.' She pocketed the wand, grabbed her bags and walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. 'Best to just make do with what you have.'

** ARGHH! I did not intend for this to take this long to complete. Let this be a lesson, don't get on an Oblivion kick and spend six days when you should be working goofing around. Right first off, I had to make up what Sirius's wand is like, as his bio didn't tell me anything about it, so I went with the best combo that I could make that matched his personality and power. As for Daphne Greengrass, she'll be a minor character for the first two books, only showing up once in a while or in passing but she'll be a more central character afterward. I won't say anything more. Well, I'll see you next week. Don't intend to slack off on this one again. At least now that I'm getting to the central story I'll be able to write faster.**


	9. The Journey on the Hogwarts Express

** Happy Thanksgiving to my wonderful readers and my faithful reviewers. I was a bit worried when I first started out, but seeing that more than 200 people have read this story is amazing to me. And it's not just the U.S. visitors that I'm happy like this. I've been seeing traffic from Venezuela, The Netherlands, Hungary and the Philippines among others. That's what I'm most proud of, that people from so many different countries are taking the time to read what I wrote and like it. It tells me just how varied and diverse this community is and I'm so glad to be a part of it. Now this chapter, the introduction of the golden trio and Malfoy. I won't change much, just add some interesting dialogue and interactions to make it fresh. I'm going to try to get this out before Thanksgiving night and Black Friday, because I'm going to be working from 8 to 1 on Thanksgiving night and then again the next day from 1 to 9, so I'm not going to be able to get any work done on this chapter during that time and I want something for my audience to read over the fall break. So, hope you enjoy, have a good holiday and I do not own Harry Potter or Ed, Edd and Eddy, as they are the property of J.K. Rowling, AT&T and WarnerMedia.**

**The Journey from Platform 9 and ¾**

The following three days passed without major incident for Marie Kanker. She started her mornings at the Leaky Cauldron having an english breakfast with some pumpkin juice before heading out into Diagon Alley to wander around the shops. She went into back alley shops and found an interesting book about Head Boys and what they did after they graduated Hogwarts, bought some dungbombs from a joke shop called Zonko's and tried some ice cream from Florean Florence's Ice Cream Parlor (she hated to admit that it was the best she ever had). She would then get lunch at one of the cafes and then return to her room at the Leaky Cauldron and read her books. She read each of her books deep into the night, pausing only to go to the bathroom and to go down into the bar to have some dinner. Most of them were very interesting, but it was potions she was looking forward to the most, as it reminded her a lot of chemistry. The night of the thirty first came without fanfare as Marie prepared to retire to her room for one last night. She had finished packing most of her things and was cleaning out the night stand when her hand brushed against the chicken bone she had left there a few days prior.

It was hard to think about her family. A few times she had gone out to a pay phone to attempt calling her mom, but she could never bring herself to do it. She knew that if she did it would just devolve into an argument about finances. If there was one part of her personality that she had inherited from her mother, it was her pride. Mom always tried her hardest to provide for them and she only took a handout if she had no other choice. Being offered money by her own daughter would not go down well. And Marie knew that she would just be insistent in helping her out and that the only things that would accomplish would be a lot of screaming and a few lost voices. Best to have that conversation in writing.

There was also just the fact that she didn't want to deal with any of her family. Her mother's hidden truths, her sisters rejection, her father's disappearance, being shanghaied into a position she didn't want to be in and the toxicity of her own home made any thought of calling or even writing home leave a bitter taste in her mouth. The wound was too raw, the betrayal too deep that Marie almost threw the bone away in a rage. It was only with great restraint that she hurled the bone on top of a pile of clothes in her trunk. She plopped down on the bed, grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. Moving on was a lot easier to do in concept than it was in practice.

Marie fell back onto the bed and looked at the analog clock out of the corner of her eye. 11:54 pm. She had been trying to sleep for 2 hours, but nothing had worked so far, so she had taken to packing to pass the time. The only things left out at this point were her toiletries and the set of clothes she had left out for tomorrow. She couldn't tell what was keeping her up, nervousness, anger or just the jumbled mess that was her head. All she knew was that sleep was as easy to catch as light, easy for her to see but unable to grasp no matter how hard she tried. She yearned for sleep, if not to get out of the cycle of introspection and spite than to just get enough sleep before she heads for the train station the next day. But her mind would not let her do so no matter how much she begged.

She moved until she was completely on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with detached lethargy. 'What can I even say to her? She told me so much about him, so it's not like she didn't trust me to know, but why wait so long? It's not like I wasn't able to prove that I could keep my mouth shut.' Anger shot through her for a second. 'And my sisters, why couldn't they realize that I haven't changed?' A sudden image of her little sister May, looking at her with longing and regret before she left the trailer a few days prior. 'Great,' she mused as she turned onto her side. 'Looks like I'm going to have to send a letter home to May saying that I forgive her for her moment of stupidity.' She huffed into her pillow. 'As if I didn't have enough to worry about.' She then remembered Lee's attitude. 'And who does she think she is to treat me like that? After everything we've been through?'

She growled. Resentment, loathing and fury clouded her mind as she tossed around on the bed. 'Did I lord over her that I had magic and she didn't? Did I ever mock her for being the result of a cheap one night stand? Did I ever stop her from spending time with mom by herself? No! I've always supported her! Always helped when she needed it, always followed her when we were breaking the rules, always did everything with her, and what do I get from her now? Spite and animosity, just because of something I can't help!' Muttering bitterly, Marie fell into a state between R.E.M. sleep and consciousness, so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even realise that morning had come until the alarm rang. Grumbling and bumbling through her morning shower and coffee, she finished packing, paid her final tab and set off dwearily into the cool morning sun.

She arrived at Kings Cross at twenty after ten. The morning rush filled the station with the crushing sound of shoes on concrete, the sliding scid of trains braking on steel rails and the vrooming of the bullet trains leaving at more than 120 kilometers an hour. As she entered the station she looked up, hoping that she'll be able to find a sign to platform 9 and ¾ due to some wizard sense, but all she saw were a black plastic nine over one platform and a black plastic 10 over the one directly next to it. She walked over to a nearby guard. "Hey," she asked politely. "I was wondering where I need to go for the 11:00 o'clock train. Can you tell me where?" The guard looked at her funnily. "This station doesn't have an 11 o'clock departure. I'd suggest going to Euston. Might have what you need there." "Oh, thanks anyway." The guard tipped his hat and walked off, leaving Marie standing alone in the gaggle of commuters that roamed the station.

Marie sat down on a bench near one of the barriers between nine and ten, trying to figure out what to do next. She was stuck in a foreign country with a trunk full of magic textbooks and a sack of currency nobody in the muggle world used. And judging by the suspicious looks being cast in her direction, it probably wouldn't be long before she was kicked out for loitering. At that moment she heard a loud clanking sound of a cart coming in her direction. She looked up and saw a seemingly uninteresting sight of a fat, walrus looking man with a large mustache pushing a cart carrying a trunk into the station, followed closely behind by a scrawny and short looking boy with messy, long black hair, glasses that looked like they had been broken on more than one occasion, and clothes that were clearly meant to fit a far larger person. However, Marie's eyes widened when she saw that on top of the trunk rested a cage that held a snowy owl.

The man suddenly stopped next to her and looked at the boy with a nastily smug grin. "Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine-platform ten. Your platform should be right in the middle, though they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?" The man chuckled wicked, the boy looking at the barrier with despondent pessimism. "Have a good term." He then left without another word, leaving the boy behind, his laughter fading into the distance as he got in his car and drove away. Marie looked at the boy, who was looking around in desperate confusion.

"Don't bother asking for the 11 o'clock train." she uttered, causing the boy to jump in surprise as he turned to her. "I already did, the guard said that there isn't one." The boy sat down and looked at her curiously, as if she were a stray animal that he didn't know if she would bite or not. "Are, are you a witch?" He asked nervously. "Apparently, just found out a few weeks ago and I'm still not sure if I really believe it." she replied gloomly. She turned to him, spotting jade green eyes behind his glasses and what seemed to be a lighting bolt scar on his forehead. "What's your name kid?" "Harry, Harry Potter." he stuttered, seemingly not used to this level of niceness from someone his own age. She extended her hand for him to shake. "Marie Kanker." They shook and fell into silence.

Marie, hoping not to make this awkward, gestured her head towards the exit. "Who was the asshole back there?" Harry blushed, clearly reluctant to get into his private life. "That was my uncle. I don't have a positive relationship with him. Or with the rest of his family." Marie mind spun quickly in her head, trying to figure out a way to get her foot out of her mouth. "Doesn't seem to like our kind does he." Harry snorted. "That's an understatement. They don't like anything that they perceive as 'abnormal'. Me least of all." Marie frowned, wondering why someone hadn't called child services to arrest his relatives if they hated him this much. "But isn't that something normal? You're just a kid, you're allowed to imagine and make things up for fun. Why wouldn't they allow you to do that." Harry chuckled bitterly. "They think that if I read fantasy books, watch cartoons or more things up that I might get ideas, or worse spread my freakishness onto them." Marie stared at him, stunned at how ridiculously harsh his relatives were to him. 'What kind of person wouldn't want a kid to imagine?' "Man, and I thought my home life was rough." Harry looked at her with concern. "Really? Why is it rough?" Marie bit her lip, regretting saying anything to someone that was practically a stranger to her. "Well," she began reluctantly. "It's less to do with my family and more to do with unfortunate circumstance."

They talked for awhile, about Marie's life at the trailer park, Harry being ostracized by his class because of his cousin, Marie's mom's forced absence due to her multiple jobs, Harry always having to do the chores for his family and their surprise of finding out that they were wizards. Marie was particularly amused by Harry's tale of how his Uncle had tried to escape a barrage of letters by driving to a rock off the coast of the North Sea. She found Harry to be very kind, though frustrated about his lot in life and unsure of himself. From some of the looks he was giving her it almost seemed like he was expecting her to bully him at any moment. He needn't have worried, any interest she might've had in bullying others left well before she boarded that plane.

Marie looked up at the train clock and saw that it was now ten minutes to ten. "Ah crap." Marie quickly rose from her seat and grabbed her trunk. "We better hurry and find the platform. Trust that old bat not to tell us where we need to go, just brill.." "Packed with Muggles, of course." The two of them spun around at the sudden voice, which they saw belonged to a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them were pushing a trunk much like theirs in front of them and they had an owl. Marie smirked with glee. "Harry, I think I just found our ticket."

They pushed their carts after them, relief flooding through their veins. They stopped close enough to hear them when the family stopped close to one of the barriers. "Now, what's the platform's number?" asked the boys mother. "Platform 9 and 3/4 !" piped a small girl, also a red head, that was holding her mother's hand and minded Marie of May when she was about six. "Mum, can't I go?" "You're not old enough Ginny, now be quiet. Alright Percy, you go first."

What seemed to be the oldest looking boy marched towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. The two of them watched carefully, trying not to blink in case they missed anything-but just then a crowd of tourists obscured their view just when the boy reached the barrier and by the time the last backpack had cleared, the boy had vanished. "Damn it." Marie growled.

"Fred, you next." the plump woman said, gesturing to one of what had to be a set of twins. "I'm not Fred, I'm George." said the boy. "Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you _tell_ I'm George?" "Sorry, George dear." The boy mischievously smirked. "Just joking mum. I am Fred." His twin told him to hurry up, and he did so, sprinting towards the barrier until.

"Harry, am I seeing things or did he just run through the barrier?" Marie asked in a shocked whisper. Harry could only nod numbly as the other twin walked briskly towards the barrier and disappear. "But how?" Harry apparently had a quick answer to that, as he approached the woman. "Excuse me." He pointed his thumb behind him at Marie. "My friend and I were wondering…" "How to get only the platform dear?" she finished kindly before looking over at Marie and giving her a reassuring smile, inviting her to approach. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too." She pointed to her last and youngest son, a tall, gangly boy with sky blue eyes, a long nose, large hands and feet and a large patchwork of freckles on each of his cheeks. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best to do it at a run if you're nervous."

"Wait," Marie asked in undignified exasperation. "That's it? All we have to do is walk into a wall?" The woman looked at Marie in mother concern. "Yes, that's it. Are you alright, you seem angry." "Oh no I'm fine." Marie curtly replied, her visible eye twitching. "I'm just wondering why the witch that showed me Diagon Alley and helped me get my school supplies didn't take thirty seconds to tell me this before she ditched me outside Ollivander's." The woman frowned, clearing believing that McGonagall shouldn't have left Marie on her own in a crowded market. "I'll be sure to inform the headmaster about this, don't you worry. Now, go on dears. You don't want to miss getting on." "Er-okay." Harry replied as the two of them wheeled their trunks until they were facing the barrier. It looked very solid.

"Do you want to go first or should I?" Harry asked politely. Marie said nothing as she started to move towards the barrier at a swift walk. People jostled her on their ways to platform 9 and 10. Marie started to jog, determination etched on her face. If the red heads could do it then she certainly could. She broke into a run, the rolling grind of trunks wheels increasing in intensity as they increased their rotations. The barrier was getting closer and closer. She resisted the urge to scream with great difficulty. She was nearly there. She extended her arm just in case. She was a foot away and then, she kept running. As she looked up she skidded to a stop.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform crowded with people, one of whom Marie had barely stopped herself from bowling over. A sign overhead said _Hogwarts Express: 11:00_. Marie looked behind her to see Harry charging through the barrier, which had now been revealed to be an wrought-iron archway, with the words platform 9 and ¾ emblassened on it.

"Woah there tiger." she said as she grabbed Harry by the arm. "Don't want ya running out onto the tracks now do we." Harry opened his eyes and looked around the train yard in childish wonder, a large smile stretching across his face with every heartbeat. Cats of every size and color wove in and out of people's legs, owls of every kind were hooting to each other and hundreds of trunks were scrappin along the ground as their owners were loading them onto the train. Some of the students were hanging out of the carriages to talk to their families, others were fighting over seats and others were running through the corridors of the train. The two of them moved down the platform to search for an empty compartment, passing by the round faced boy that Marie had seen at Flourish and Blotts who was talking to an old witch with a hat topped with a stuffed vulture. "Gran, I've lost my toad again." "Oh Neville," they heard her sigh. As they approached an open door they saw a crowd huddled around a boy with dreadlocks. "Give us a look Lee. Go on." The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as a long, hairy leg poked out of it.

The two of them pressed through the crowd until they found an empty compartment at the rear of the train. Harry put his owl in first and then, with Marie's help, hauled his trunk up the steps into the compartment. Though when they were trying to lift their trunks into the upper storage compartments, they found that they were too short to reach, even when they were standing on the seats. "Want a hand?" It was one of the red headed twins that they had followed through the barrier. "Yeah," Harry grunted. "We can't quite reach the top." "Oy, Fred. Over here!" With their help they were able to hoast their trunks onto the storage rack. "Thanks." Harry said, sweeping his sweaty hair out of his eyes. "What's that?" one of the twins asked, pointing to the lightning bolt on Harry's forehead. "Blimey." the other twin stated in divine awe. "Are you…?" "He is!" the other twin exclaimed in barely restrained delight. "Are you?" "What?" Harry asked uncomfortably. "_Harry Potter_." chorused the twins. "Oh, him. I mean, yes I am." Harry stated nervously.

The twins stood their, gawking at him in reverence. Marie saw that Harry was starting to panic, if the increasing redness in his face was any indication. "Alright move along, he's not some zoo attraction for you to google at. In fact, I think I heard your mother calling for you, so by bye." She then shoved them out the door and slammed it behind her. "Gosh, rude much." Marie smiled at Harry, who was looking at her with reserved gratitude. They sat down next to the open window, where half hidden, they eavesdropped on the red haired family on the platform below.

Their mother had taken out a handkerchief. "Ron, you've got something on your nose." The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and started to vigorously rub the end of his nose. "_Mum_-geroff!" he exclaimed as we wiggled free. "Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nose?" asked one of the twins mockingly. "Shut up." Ron groased. "Where's Percy?" their mother asked. "He's coming now." The oldest boy strode into view. He had already changed into his school robes and the two of them noticed that a red and gold badge with a P on it had been pinned to his front. Marie decided that at that moment that they would never be able to get along, as he looked like an uptight prat, and the words that came out of his mouth only confirmed her opinion.

"Can't stay long mother." he said pompously. "I'm up front, the prefects got two compartments to themselves." "Oh, are you a _prefect_, Percy?" one of the twins exclaimed with an air of sarcastic surprise. ""You should have said something, we had no idea." "Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it." the other twin mused. "Once-" "Or twice-" "A minute-" "All summer-" "Oh shut up." said Percy the prefect. "How come Percy get new robes anyway?" one of the twins asked. "Because he's a _prefect_." their mother coed fondly. "All right dear, have a good term. Send me an owl when you get there." She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. She then turned to the twins. "Now, you two. I want you to behave yourselves this year. If I get one more letter that you've blown up a toilet or-." "Blown up a toilet. We've never blown up a toilet." "Great idea though. Thanks mum." "It's _not_ _funny_. And look after Ron." "Don't worry," one of the twins slyly asserted, putting his arm around his brother. "Ickle Ronniekins is safe with us." "Not likely." Marie muttered as she watched Ron throw the twins arm off and glared at him, his nose still pink from where his mom rubbed it.

"Hey Mum, guess what?" the other twin excitedly conveyed. "Guess who we just met on the train?" Harry leaned back quickly so they wouldn't see him, a sight that made Marie wish the outer windows had curtains. "You know the black-haired boy who was near us in the station. You know who he is?" "Who" "_Harry Potter"_ Marie watched the little girl's eyes widen in fan-girlish glee and started bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Oh Mum, can I go on the train and see him. Oh please…" "You've already seen him Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at the zoo." "That's what that blue haired girl said to us earlier." one of the twins muttered. "And she's quite right of it. He's just as much a student at Hogwarts this year as you are, even if he is the boy who lived." She then looked pensively at the twin. "Is he really Fred? How do you know?" "Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there, like lightning." "That poor boy. He was so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform, I'm glad that he at least had a friend with him." A small smile grew onto Marie's face. It was nice to have an adult comment on her with positivity. "Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?" "I forbid you to ask him Fred!" their mother shouted sternly. "No! Don't you dare! As though he needs reminding of that on his first day of school!" "All right, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded. "Hurry up!" their mother exclaimed, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out the train for their mother to kiss their cheeks, and their younger sister started crying. "Don't cry Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls." "We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat." "_George_!" "I'm only joking mum." The train began to move. Marie and Harry watched as the boys sister, half crying and half laughing, ran alongside the train as it picked up speed until she reached the end of the platform. Marie sat back from the window, as the girl's hair had started to look blonde as the train went around the corner, letting Harry watch the houses run past as they heading into the English countryside.

The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest boy came in. "Can I sit here?" he asked, pointing at the seat next to Marie. "Everywhere else is full." Harry shook his head and Marie shrugged, not caring either way. The boy sat down, his eyes flickering to Harry for a brief moment before sitting down, pretending he hadn't looked. Marie noticed that he still had a black mark on his nose. "Hey Ron." The twins were back, getting a soft glare from Marie when they entered the doorway. "Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there." "Right." Ron mumbled warily. "Hello all. I don't believe we introduced ourselves earlier. Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother." "Marie Kanker" she stated frostily. "Right, sorry about earlier there Harry, won't happen again. See you later then." "Bye." the three of them chorused as the twins shut the door behind them.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out. Harry nodded timidly. "Oh-well I thought that it might be one of Fred and George jokes." he mumbled awkwardly. "And have you really got, you know…" He pointed at Harry's forehead. Marie looked at Ron with curious frustration. 'What is the deal with that scar anyway?' Harry pulled back his bangs to show his lightning bolt scar in its full glory. Ron stared, amazed. "So is that where You-Know-Who-?" 'Who?' Marie thought, now completely confused. "Yes, but I can't remember any of it." Harry replied. "Nothing?" Ron asked eagerly. "Well-I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else." "Wow." The two stared at each other awkwardly before Marie interjected. "What's the big deal?" Ron looked at Marie incredulously, while Harry looked at her in quiet confusion and even relief. "The scar. What's the big deal? So it's a magic scar, big whoop. Why does that mean you have to treat him like some rock star. And who is You-Know-Who anyway, cause I certainly don't know who."

Ron looked at her in stunned disbelief. "Are you a muggleborn?" "No, I am muggle raised though. Only found out I was a witch less than a month ago." she replied curtly. "Oh, sorry. It's just weird, I've never met a person that didn't know who You-Know-Who is." "It's okay," Harry said encouragingly. "I didn't know that I was a wizard either until Hagrid came and told me about my parents and Voldemort." Ron gasped and scrambled back in his seat. "You said his name." Ron said, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you of all people." "What the hell's a Voldemort?" "Only the darkest wizard of the last fifty years! He terrorized the entire wizarding world with his forces for more than a decade. He killed hundreds of muggles and wizards, including two of my uncles." He then pointed at Harry. "It's only because of him that he was defeated in the first place." Marie looked at Harry in shock. "You what?" "Well, I don't really know how I did it. As far as I know, the spell rebounded off me for no reason. Not like it did much for me though. He killed both my parents and left me to live with the Dursleys." "The jackass." "Yeah him." "Bummer man. Still, guess it's kind of impressive that you beat that guy." Ron looked at her weirdly. "You know, you're taking this all very calmly." "I've had a lot of surprises the last few weeks. I'm practically numb to stuff like this by now. Besides, it doesn't change who he is, anymore than finding out I was a witch changed who I am." She turned to the side. "Despite what other people think." she growled.

Harry looked at her sympathetically, while Ron looked more introspective. "Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked. Marie shook her head. They sat in uncomfortable silence for several minutes. "What about your family Ron. Are all of them wizards?" Harry asked, hoping to lighten up the mood. "Err, Yeah I think so." Ron said. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him." "You must know loads about magic already." "Ah a bit. But not as much as my brothers. They've been at Hogwarts for years." "But you must have learned a lot from them. I wish I had three wizard brothers." "Five." Ron said gloomly. "And trust me Harry, having siblings isn't what it's cracked up to be." Marie affirmed "I've the sixth in our family to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was a head boy and Charlie was a Quidditch captain. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks their funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and drew out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless and he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff-I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink, thinking that he had said too much. "Hey it's fine," Marie said consolingly. "Most of the stuff I get is from Goodwill or charity donation bins." "What really?" Harry asked perplexingly while Ron looked at her understandingly. "Yeah, believe it or not, the clothes I'm wearing are meant for a guy." and that was true as she was wearing a men's plaid collared shirt, men's skinny jeans and unbenounced to the others, men's boxers. "I can understand that. All the clothes I have are from my cousin." Harry said sympathetically. "Wait what? Those look like they're supposed to be for a grown man!" "Well, he does weigh 175 kilos." Marie quirked her left eyebrow. "Takes after his father I assume?" "In more ways than one." "So he's a jackass too?" Harry blushed. "Yeeesssss?" "Figures."

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were passing vast fields of pasture, filled with herds of cows and sheep. The three of them fell back into silence, with Harry and Marie watching the world move past the window. Around 12:30 there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back the door. "Anything off the carts dears?" she asked earnestly. Marie and Harry went to get something off the carts, Ron muttering that he had brought sandwiches. What she saw was some of the weirdest confectaries she had ever seen. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes and Licorice Wands were just a few of the weird candies that were offered from the cart. Marie searched the cart with her eyes, but it seemed that there were no normal candies (which was a shame, as she had a weakness for Starburst). So she settled for getting a few jugs of pumpkin juice while Harry bought a bit of everything, which the two of them dumped into an empty seat.

"Hungry are ya?" she asked playfully. "Starving." Harry replied before diving into a pumpkin pasty. Ron meanwhile took out a lumpy package and unwrapped it to reveal four sandwiches. He pulled one of them apart and whined. "She always forgets that I don't like corned beef." Marie perked up. "I'll trade you some juice for those." "You don't want these, it's all dry." Ron said morosely. "She hasn't got much time, you know, with five of us." Marie tossed him a bottle before snatching the sandwiches from his hand. "Ron, where I come from, I've learned that you have to appreciate what food you can get." She took out one of the sandwiches and bit into it. "Cough, cough, wow." she grabbed a bottle of pumpkin juice and took a deep swig of it. "You weren't kidding when you said it was dry. This thing could really use some mustard." "Go on, have a pasty." Harry said, extending a hand filled with one towards her. Marie took it, staring at it suspiciously before taking a bite.

It was weird, sitting there with Harry and Ron as the three of them worked their way through Harry's pasties, cakes and candies and Ron's sandwiches (she had to down two bottles of pumpkin juice to finish them). When she was at school, she and her sisters had a table all to themselves, mainly because nobody was brave or stupid enough to sit with them. While she did love her sisters even after everything that had happened in the last month, there was this warm, cuddly feeling building up in her stomach with every passing minute she spent with the two boys. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but it felt nice.

Harry grabbed a blue, pentagonal shaped box and showed them to Ron. "What are these? They're not real frogs are they?" "No." Ron replied, focusing more on a licorice wand then on what Harry was holding. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa." "What?" Harry and Marie asked simultaneously. "Oh, of course you two wouldn't know. Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect. Famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy." Harry unwrapped his chocolate frog and picked up the card, scooting over to allow Marie to look at it over his shoulder. It showed a picture of an old withered man with a long crooked nose, half-moon glasses and a long silvery beard and mustache, which matched his equally long, flowing hair. Underneath it was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So this is Dumbledore." Harry exclaimed. "Looks kind of queer, don't he?" Marie stated. "Don't tell me you two haven't heard of Dumbledore!" Ron expressed. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa-Thanks." Harry turned over the card and the two began to read.

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts_

_Considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten pin bowling._

Harry turned the card back over and to both his and Marie's astonishment, Dumbledore had vanished. "He's gone." Harry exclaimed in shock. "Well you can't expect him to hang around all day." Ron said matter of factly. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got six of her." Ron extended the card to Harry and Marie. "Do either of you want it? You can start collecting." Marie looked at the card for a brief moment. "No thanks, I'm not really into trading card collecting, I prefer Duel Monster cards." Harry turned to her in confusion as he took the card from Ron. "You play Yu-Gi-Oh?" "Of course." she replied as easily as if she had just been asked what the weather is. "Where else can I save the world while playing a children's card game?" Ron wasn't paying attention to the conversation, as he was busy staring at the pile of chocolate frog boxes in the seat next to Harry. Harry noticed. "Help yourself." he said cheerfully. "But in the, you know, muggle world, people don't move in photos." "Do they? What they don't move at all?" Ron asked, sounding amazed. "Weird." "I prefer static shots personality." Marie stated grumply. "Adds more of an artistic feel to it, conveys a lot more emotion when you capture that specific moment." Ron nodded, looking unsure if he should argue with her before helping Harry to tear into the chocolate frogs.

The two of them tore into the cards, Harry collecting the cards themselves while Ron was content to eat the chocolate, though considering that he had 500 cards, he probably didn't need them. Marie watched Harry flick through the cards for a bit, watching his eyes flicker in fascination and wonder at the moving pictures so like the photos she saw less than a month prior. She smiled a little as she reached for a different candy box, finding his joy to be rather endearing. Her smile however was replaced with a puzzled frown as she saw that she had gotten a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "You gotta be careful with those." Ron warned, wiping off bits of chocolate that had smeared on his lower lip. "When they say every flavor, they _mean_ every flavor. There's the ordinary ones of course, like chocolate, peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach, liver or tripe. George swears that he once had a booger flavored one once." He then picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. "Bleurgh-see? Sprouts."

Marie looked down at the box. At that moment, a fiendish thought, such as that she hadn't had in nearly a month, sprouted and took root in her head. An impish grin spread across her face as Marie the Kanker sister was reborn. "Hey guys." she coed, staring at them with a sadistic gleam in her eyes. "How about we play a game?"

The game was "Guess the flavor." Going counter clockwise, the three of them would close their eyes, pluck a bean from the box, and eat the bean to find out what flavor it was. Marie got many varying flavors; good ones like almond, vanilla, tomato, lemon and goat cheese and bad ones like sauerkraut, charcoal, haggis, beets and soap. For the next few hours they played this game as the scenery beside the train transitioned from well kept pasture to wild forests. "Okay Harry, what's this one?" Marie asked with anticipated glee. Harry pulled out a gray bean and bit into the corner. "Yuck, uncrushed black pepper." "Bummer Harry. Alright Marie, you next." Marie took out a light brown bean and tried to eat it, only to start choking and spit it out. "Marie, are you okay?" Harry asked. "Cough, cinnamon. It was if I ate an entire spoonful of the stuff." She took a deep drag from one of the remaining bottles of pumpkin juice. "Urgh, I think we need to stop before we get something truly disgusting." "Yeah, I've heard rumors that there's this rare vomit flavored bean that looks a lot like a licorice flavor bean. I don't want to test my luck after having that whiskey flavored one." "Well look on the bright side," Marie said merrily. "Least we know what not to get you for your birthday in ten years."

At that moment the compartment door opened and the round faced boy stepped in, tears glistening at the edges of his eyes. "Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?" When the three of them shook their heads he wailed. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!" "He'll turn up." Harry said. "Yeah, he's probably just somewhere in the storage compartment." Marie said, not really caring. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. But if you see him." "You'll be the first to know." Marie finished. "Don't know why he's so bothered." Ron uttered after the boy left. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quickly as possible. Mind you, I brought Scabbers so I can't talk." The rat was still sleeping on Ron's lap. "He might've died and you wouldn't know the difference." Ron said in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you guys…" He rummaged through his trunk and took out a very battered looking wand. It was chipped in place and what seemed to be a white thread was poking out at the end. "Unicorn's hair sticking out of it. Anyway-"

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, this time with a girl with bushy brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and large buck teeth. She was already wearing her Hogwarts robes, reminding Marie way too much of Percy to be comfortable. Her bossy voice didn't help. "Has anyone's seen a toad? Neville's lost one." "We've already told him we haven't seen it." Ron said. But the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand. "Oh you doing magic? Let's see then." She said pompously. Ron looked taken aback. "Er-all right" He cleared his throat and raised his arms as if he were a stage musician. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow." He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family is magic at all, so it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so surprised! Of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard-I've learned all our course books by heart, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?" She said all of this rather quickly. Marie was panicking. She had only gotten her textbooks three days ago, there was no way she had been able to memorize them. Even Ron's stunned face that showed he hadn't memorized them either didn't help calm her done. "Ron Weasley." Ron muttered, feeling stupid. "Marie Kanker, I'm the only witch in my family as well." she said, hoping that her voice wasn't cracking. "Harry Potter" he said cautiously. "Are you really?" Hermoine asked eagerly, her eyes glinting with knowledgeable intrige. "I know all about you of course. I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, _and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_." "Am I?" Harry asked in bewilderment. "Goodness didn't you know. I would've found out everything I could if it was me." Hermione then felt a calloused hand on her shoulder, it was Marie's and she was looking at her with barely held patience.

"Hermione, Harry here is rather, sheltered shall we say. He just wants to enjoy Hogwarts like the rest of us, so I'm going to need ya to turn that 10 down to about a 6. Okay?" Hermione nodded, a blush coming to her cheeks. She stood back up and recomposed herself. "Do either of you know what houses you'll be in? I've been asking around and I'm hoping I am in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best. Afterall, Dumbledore himself was in it." She then got pensive, her index finger tapping her cheek as she did so. "Although, Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. Would be nice to have an intelligent discussion with others for a change." The toadless boy Neville tapped Hermione on the shoulder. "Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, I'd expect we'd be there soon." She then left, leaving a perplexed and exasperated group behind her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it." Ron said. "I know right? Can you imagine having to spend an entire year dealing with that? I'd rather move in with that pint sized red haired brat back home." Marie said. Ron chuckled a little before staring at the wand that was still in his hand. He threw it angrily back into his trunk. "Stupid spell. George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud." "What house are your brothers in?" Harry asked, his curiosity plastered all over his face. "Gryffindor." he said gloomily. "Mum and Dad were in it too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin." "If they did, I'm definitely making those jokes." Marie conveyed impishly. "What kind of jokes?" Ron asked cautiously. "The special kind." she said as she giggled perversely. "Wasn't that the house Vol- a mean, You-Know-Who was in?" "Yeah" Ron uttered depressively. Harry looked at Scabbers earnestly. "You know, I think the ends of Scabbers whiskers are a bit lighter." Marie could only look at Harry with a gaze that said 'really?'

"So," Harry started, clearly trying to remove all sense of awkwardness from the room. "What do your oldest brothers do now that they've left anyway?" "Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts." Ron then leaned forward. "Did you hear about Gringotts?" he whispered consperiously. "It's been all over the _Daily Prophet,_ but I don't suppose the two of you get that with muggles-someone tried to rob a high security vault." Both Harry and Marie were shocked. "Really? What happened to them?" Harry asked. "Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it." Marie stared at Ron in exasperation. "Can I just call him Voldemort? I feel stupid calling him You-Know-Who all the time." Ron flinched. "Don't say his name." "Alright, I'll just call him Godwin. That's seems to be how you're treating him, as if the Gestapo will come in if we say anything bad about him."

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked, desperately trying to steer this ship away from the iceberg that was Voldemort as hard as he can. "Er- I don't know any." "Yeah, I don't know any either." "What!" Ron shouted, looking dumbfounded as his gaze switched between the two of them. "Oh you wait, it's the greatest sport in the world." At that moment, Marie realized that she had encountered a fanboy. The next several minutes were a blur as Ron explained the rules of the game, the different positions and what they did, the four balls, the games he and his brothers had been to and various brooms he'd like to buy if he had more money. Marie would be lying if she said that her eyes hadn't glazed over when he started talking about common penalties. He had just started discussing the finer parts of the sport when the compartment door opened again.

'Oh thank god, if I had to listen to another talk about how cobbling is complete crap, I'd have taken my chances jumping.' In stepped in a boy with pale blonde hair, pale gray eyes and a pointed face. He was looking at Harry with a keen, predatory interest. "Is it true?" he asked in a bored drawling voice. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So, it's you isn't it?" "Yes." Harry replied cliptly. Marie looked over at the two boys that had followed the pointed face one, whom she was quickly coming to hate. Both of them were heavyset and looked both extremely mean and extremely stupid. Standing on either side of the boy, it looked as though May's Ed had created two evil clones and rented them out as bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." the pale faced boy remarked carelessly. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron coughed, attempting to cover a slight snicker while Marie's mouth twitched. 'Oh child, I'm going to have so much fun with you.' she thought sadistically. Draco Malfoy looked at them. "Think my name's funny do you?" Marie smirked. "Hey you said it, not me." Ron bit into his hand, trying to keep himself from laughing. Malfoy glared at him. "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Harry, ignoring the blazing glare Marie was giving him. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to be making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He extended his hand for Harry to take, but Harry didn't take it. "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself thanks." he said cooly. Malfoy's cheeks tinged a slight pink as he withdrew his hand. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter." he whispered. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasley's and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you." All Ron and Harry, now utterly furious, stood up. "Say that again." Ron said, his face as red as his hair. "Oh, you're going to fight us are you?" Malfoy sneered. "Unless you get out now." Harry declared bravely. "But we don't feel like leaving, do we boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron, only to get his hand trapped in a vice-like grip.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh. Oh, I knew I was going to have fun with you, but I didn't think that it would be this much fun." Marie said sadistically. She squeezed lightly on Goyle's hand, causing a small crack to emit from it. Malfoy looked at Marie in petrified fear, her single visible eye staring hungrily at him. "It's not often I find a person like you, the kind that thinks that just because of how much money they have and how superior their blood is that they think the world revolves around them.. That no matter what problems they face that they can just throw their money and influence and power at it and it will just go away." She squeezed again, harder this time, causing more cracks to come from Goyle's hand and tears to form in his eyes. A devilish grin spread across his face. "Those kind of people, oh how I loathe them. And yet I also love them, because it means that I can take them down a peg, and that is so much fun." She squeezed again, harder than ever. An audible SNAP echoed through the room, followed by Goyle's agonized scream as Marie let go of his now broken hand. "And that is the whistle." Her grin was now spread from ear to ear, as a psychotic gleam sparkled in her visible eye. "I don't believe I introduced myself. My name is Marie Regulus Kanker. I fix machines, destroy public property and beat up entitled little twats like you." Crabbe threw a punch at her, only for her to grab it, her eyes not leaving Malfoy's terrified gaze. "So tell me, are you gonna leave, or am I gonna have to break your other mook's hand?" Malfoy grabbed Goyle and took off, Crabbe following quickly after.

Perhaps it was because of Goyle's scream, or maybe it was the sound of thundering footsteps, but Hermione arrived a second later. "What has been going on? I thought I heard a gunshot." Marie looked at her left hand. "Huh, must've broken his hand harder than I thought." she then turned to Harry. "So, you've met the whining 1%'er I take it." Harry explained to them his meeting with Malfoy at Madam Malkin's a month earlier, a meeting that had not left a favorable impression on him. "I've heard of his family," Ron uttered darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they were bewitched but my dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He then turned to Harmione, who Marie was surprised to find was still there. "Can we help you with something?" "You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up front to the conductor and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there." Marie chuckled. "Oh please, for there to be a fight, the other side would've had a chance of winning." She then reached into her trunk and got her robes. "She's right though, we better get changed. I'll leave you to yourselves, I'll be back in a few minutes. Be sure to get the dirt off your nose Ron."

Marie walked down the train to the girls room, passing by a blonde haired girl that seemed oddly familiar to her, and changed into her robes before returning to the compartment. "Hey guys, this feels weird. Do either of you feel weird?" "About what?" Ron asked. "Wearing these. I feel like I'm wearing an oversized poncho." "Oh thank god, I'm not the only one." Harry said. "Uh, don't worry too much about it. You get used to it after about a month or so." Ron placated. At that moment a voice echoed over the intercom. "We'll be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it'll be taken to the school separately." Nerves shot through the three of them. Ron's freckles grew more prominent on his increasingly pale face and even Marie couldn't keep her hands from trembling. They crammed their pockets with the last few sweets and the last two bottles of pumpkin juice and joined the throng crowding the corridor.

The train slowed down and finally stopped. People pushed their way through the door and out onto the small platform. It was a cold night, a fine mist hung over the train yard. A lamp bobbed in out of the darkness, buzzing softly above the crowd. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" Holding the lantern was a giant of a man with a tangled mane of black hair and beard, with equally black eyes that glistened like beetles. He towered over the first years on the platform, yet despite the distance and the mist, his friendly smile could clearly be seen through the mass of hair. "C'mon, follow me-anymore firs' years? Mind your step now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and sliding across the wet, stoney slope, they followed the giant down a steep, narrow path, the darkness enveloping them as they moved through the trees in nervous silence. "Yeh'll get your firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec, jus' round the bend here." There was a series of loud "Ooooh!"'s and Marie would've joined them if she hadn't been rendered speechless. A towering castle grafted to the side of a tall mountain dominated the horizon, the orange glow of hundreds of windows lighting up the massive turrets and spiraling towers. The waning half moon shone over a large black lake, the lapping waves glistening in the evening light. It spread over five kilometers from shore to shore, enhancing the sheer size of the castle as the first years gazed up in wonder.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant called as he pointed to a fleet of row boats by the shore. Marie, Ron and Harry were quickly joined in one of the boats by Hermione, none of them being particularly happy about the arrangement. "Everyone in?" the giant asked after he had gotten in a boat that he filled up by himself. "Right then-FORWARD!" The boats lurched forward, gliding across the lake as if it were made of glass. Everyone remained silent as their rides took them closer and closer to the castle. "Heads Down!" the giant yelled as the boats started to reach the cliff, forcing them to bend their heads to keep themselves from scraping their heads on the wet and rocky ceiling. They passed through a curtain of ivy and along a dark tunnel to an underground harbor, where they clambered out onto the rocky beach. "Oy, you there. Is this your toad?" the giant asked as he was checking one of the boats. "Trevor." Neville cried thankfully. With that problem solved, the giant lead the crowd up a passageway onto the damp lawn in front of the castle. The giant climbed a set of stone stairs to a huge oak door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" The giant raised his fist and knocked three times on the castle door, which opened at once, revealing the one person that Marie didn't want to see.

** Well that failed. Boss had me come in to cover multiple shifts, I had to work for multiple days with very little down time and then to add insult to injury, I started to blackout while going to the bathroom and twisted my ankle when I was falling down. So not a good week for working on this, even without having to help with Thanksgiving dinner. On the plus side, I don't have to work until Saturday this week so I'll be able to dedicate my entire time to the story. Now before I conclude this, there was one other reason why this is late, and that is because I've been watching this youtube channel called **_**Hello Future Me, **_**a channel that talks about worldbuilding and story writing. Trust me, watching this channel and hearing him talk about the hidden exposition techniques in Harry Potter or the intricate world building of Last Airbender really helped me as a writer and gave me a fascinating look into the creative process in what questions you have to ask yourself while writing. And the best part; he has a book out! I haven't bought it yet, but I've read the first three chapters of his book **_**On Writing and Worldbuilding Volume 1**_** on Amazon, and I find it to be easy to read and understand. It's very educational and since it uses a balanced combination of examples from traditional literature as well as modern popular culture, it's very accessible. It's currently available in kindle and paperback form on Amazon and I feel that it is a necessity for any writer or aspiring writer to have. See you next time.**


	10. The Sorting Hat

** J.K. Rowling writes more than me. I'm not saying that to be pedantic, of course she writes more than me. She has written twelve books over the course of 21 years, not counting short stories and film scripts. Over the course of a little more than three years from 1997 to 2000 she wrote **_**Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban **_**and **_**Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**_**. That means that she wrote more than 1,400 pages over that span, half of those coming over the course of one year, considering that the US copy of **_**Goblet of Fire**_** totaled 734 pages. But that's not why I say that J.K. Rowling writes more than me. When I say that she writes more than me, I mean that her chapters are significantly longer than mine. I tend to follow a more traditional concise style. In one of my favorite books, **_**The Picture of Dorian Gray**_**, the first chapter is a little less than twelve pages long, the second chapter a little more than fourteen and so on. I tend to follow this kind of style of multiple chapters of average length because my writing has more of gradual build than Rowling's, though she herself is pretty good at pacing. I do this because I feel that this allows for a greater exploration of emotions and allows me to properly incorporate necessary quiet moments that allows for an expression of subtle emotions. Rowling however, well the first Harry Potter book was 306 pages long and had seventeen chapters in it, which is a little less than twenty pages per chapter. Combine it with my additions and changes to the story and you suddenly have a chapter that is about fourteen pages followed by another of twenty three pages. Now, as to those changes, I will follow the dialogue and actions of a scene for basic structure, but I will not copy it wholesale (as was shown when I replaced Scabbers biting Goyle's finger to Marie crushing his hand). Doing so is lazy and I prefer to have my own words when I'm writing, if it's adding dialogue because of a different point of view or for the sake of a joke that fits with the characters, changing the language so that I can describe the same scene in a different way or just removing lines that aren't needed for where I want to take the story. I also edit lines if I feel that the grammar interferes with the pace of the dialogue or if I just wanted to use a different word with the same meaning to convey an emotion. Speaking of which, the chapter following this one will take us back to Peach Creek, as I intend to jump back and forth between there and Hogwarts every few chapters, maybe even every other chapter due to the time skips. If I just focus on the wizarding world, the drama I want to cultivate would be rather unsubstantial. I don't want this story to be just different character in a new setting, I feel that you lose something narratively if you do that. I want to see what their absence causes back in the place that they came from, and I hope that you do as well. I do not own **_**Harry Potter**_** or **_**Ed, Edd and Eddy**_**. They are owned by J.K. Rowling, AT&T and Warner Media.**

**The Sorting Hat**

Professor McGonagall was just like she remembered from their last meeting. Same hat, same emerald green robes and same stern face that looked like she just ate a whole lime. Marie glared at her, not forgetting how she ditched her outside of Ollivander's. "The firs' years Professor McGonagall." the giant said cheerily. "Thank you Hagrid. I'll take them from here." She pulled the door wide open, showing the students an enormous entrance hall, large enough to fit four trailers on top of each other and still have room for seven more. The stone walls, as smooth as polished sandstone, were lined with dozens of torches, brazing with soothing warm light that bounced pleasantly off the finely carved marble staircase in the center of the atrium and the placid faces of the nervous children.

They followed McGonagall across the hall, passing by a large ornate door on their right, where the drone of hundreds of voices buzzed through the door as audibly as if a single person was whispering into their ear. Marie's stomach dropped into her feet as she followed the crowd through a small door that lead off of the hall into an equally empty chamber. The students crowded in, standing shoulder to shoulder and front to rear as they were packed in like sardines. "Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said nobly. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is an important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within family."

Marie tuned out at this point. McGonagall had already told her most of this stuff a few days ago, so she felt that she didn't need to listen this time. Besides, this info wasn't really important to her anyway. She instead looked around the crowd, saw Ron trying to rub off the particularly stubborn bit of dirt from his nose, Harry was trying to flatten his hair and Neville was trying to fix his cloak. She looked to her left and saw that the blonde girl from earlier also wasn't paying attention either. Clearly she had been told about this before as well.

"Hey, you're Daphne right?" The girl looked over at her. "Last time I checked Yank. Good to see you remembered." she replied emotionlessly. "Right, so do you know how we'll be sorted? 'Cause I think having all of us take a personality test would take too long." Daphne looked up to see McGonagall had finished and left the room. "No. I tried asking my parents about it, but they said it was a tradition that a new student would be surprised by the ceremony." "That is completely asinine." "Isn't it?" Marie looked around again. "Well I hope that it isn't too difficult, because I'd think I'd come up short against Hermione over there." Hermione was muttering really fast the names and techniques of all the spells she knew, wondering which one she'd needed. "Unlikely, otherwise there wouldn't be that many students, even if they all came from pureblood families." Marie looked at the door, wondering when McGonagall was going to come back so that the rest of his classmates stopped stewing in their own sweat.

"Well, after everything, it's not like they're going to be able to surprise us any mo...WHAT THE SHIT?!" About twenty ghosts had streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and semi transparent, they gilded across the room talking to one another and barely glancing at the students as they were too caught up in their debate. "Forgive and forget I say. We ought to give him a second chance-". "My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name you know, he's not even really a ghost." They finally noticed the students, staring up at them with disbelieving terror. "I say, what are you all doing here?" one of the ghosts that had a prominent neck ruff and tights asked. "Oh nothing much," Marie said numbly. "Just trying not to wet ourselves in fear." "Ah, new students!" One ghost that looked like a fat Francisian Friar exclaimed delightedly. "About to be sorted I suppose?" "Indeed Mr. Friar." Daphne had recovered from the earlier shock rather quickly and was speaking carefully and diplomatically, almost like a princess. "And I have to say that I am honored to meet you my good friar." "Well my good lady, I hope to see you and a few others in Hufflepuff! My old house you know!" "Move along now, the Sorting Ceremony's about to start." McGonagall had returned. The ghosts left through the wall one by one, their faces showing looks of disappointment.

"Now form a line and follow me." Marie found herself jostled by the crowd and wound up behind Ron and in front of Daphne as the line exited the chamber, crossed the hall and entered through the double doors that they had passed earlier.

Marie had only seen more marvelous halls and rooms in photos she had seen online or in art books. Thousands of candles floated above four long tables that stretched the room from end to end, their glow sparkling off of the hundreds of gold goblets and plates that dotted them. Hundreds of students stared at the first years as McGonagall lead them down the central aisle towards a long table that the other teachers were sitting at. Above them a serine canopy of stars and the pale moon shone down on them from the ceiling. "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_." she heard Hermione whisper and she certainly believed her, as she watched Bootes the Herdsman move slowly behind a cloud.

McGonagall stopped them once they reached the front of the hall, leaving them exposed to the judging eyes of the older students and the silvery ghosts that sat with them. She placed a four legged stool in front of them, on top of which she placed an old, frayed, muddy, patched, crusted and battered wizard's hat. 'Are we supposed to get a rabbit out of it?' Marie thought as she stared at the hat with the rest of the students in confusion. Then the hat twitched, ripped open a seam at the base so that it was like a mouth and started to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can clap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave of heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a thinking cap!"

Most of the hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song, as if they had been the audience at the 1985 Live Aid listening to Queen. Marie however could do little else but stare incredulously at the hat as it bowed to each of the tables before becoming still again. "So we've just got to try on the hat! I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." Ron whispered angrily. "I'll help make it look like an accident." Marie whispered back, not knowing if she was joking or not.

McGonagall rolled out a long scroll. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." she said "Abbott, Hannah!" A pink faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled nervously out of line, shoved the hat over her head and jumped up on the stool. After a few seconds the roar of "Hufflepuff" came from the hat's mouth. The table on the line's near right cheered and clapped as Hannah skipped to an open spot on one of the benches, the Fat Friar waving to her as she sat down. "Bones, Susan!" "Hufflepuff" the hat shouted once more as Susan rushed down to sit next to Hannah. "Boot, Terry" "Ravenclaw!" This time the table on the near left applauded, with several Ravenclaws even standing up to shake his hand as he joined them. He was followed shortly afterward by "Brocklehurst, Mandy." (a name that Marie had to try really hard not to laugh at), then "Brown, Lavender" went to Gryffindor, which sat at a table on the far left, followed by "Bulstrode, Millicent" being sorted into Slytherin, which had its table on the far right and whom looked like a collective bunch of either rich snobs or inbred Habsburgs.

"You really want to go over there?" she asked Daphne, gesturing with her head so that she didn't draw any attention ("Corner, Michael." "Ravenclaw!"). "It has nothing to do with what I want." ("Cornfoot, Stephen." "Ravenclaw!") "I have to unhold the prestige of the family, as is expected of me." ("Crabbe, Vincent.", "Slytherin!") "Yeah, but don't you want to do what you want to do?" Marie asked as "Davis, Tracey." was sorted into Slytherin. "You know, be your own woman? Or are you worried about what your parents would say?" "Not particularly." Daphne replied as "Entwhistle, Kevin." was sent to Hufflepuff. "I know that they'd support me no matter what I do. I just feel like I owe it to them that I keep up the family tradition." ("Finch-Fletchley, Justin." "Hufflepuff!") "Besides, I grew up around most of those imbeciles over there, I think I can handle them." "But do you think that's the best place for you? I mean you have the ambition part down, but I just don't see you wanting to deal with them." ("Finnigan, Seamus." "Gryffindor!") "I certainly wouldn't, but I'm going to have to deal with these idiots in the Wizengamot in the future." ("Goldstein, Anthony." "Ravenclaw!") "Might as figure out how to get one over on them now instead of later." ("Goyle, Gregory." "Slytherin!") "Well I wish you the best. Lord knows if I end up there half of them would in intensive care in a week." ("Granger, Hermione." "Gryffindor!") "Yes, I don't think my house would work for you." she said as she was called up. "I hope wherever you do end up you make a name for yourself. I don't want my perception of you to be wrong." She then waltzed up to the stool and was sorted into Slytherin as soon as the hat touched her head.

Marie suddenly realized that her turn was coming up as McGonagall got closer and closer to the K's. "Hopkins, Wayne." sounded like a bell in her mind as he was sorted into Hufflepuff and the utterance of "Jones, Megan." felt like a stone being shoved into her throat. She didn't even realize that she had started up to the hat after it had sent Megan to join Wayne in Hufflepuff until she felt McGonagall's hand on her shoulder. "Miss Kanker, as much as I appreciate your expediency and while you were the next name on the list, do try not to make an assumption like this again. I don't want you to embarrass yourself by accident." Marie dully nodded before dropping the hat over her eyes and sitting on the stool. 'Hmm, what have we here? Such a conflicted mind. Definitely a lot of ambition and cunning, but they're not focused towards your own gain. Astoundingly loyal and hardworking, but only when you want to put in the effort. And remarkable intellect, but with little desire to prove it. In fact your mind seems to focus entirely on trying to prove yourself to one person, hmm, let's take a look see who that might be.' 'Hey, no! Bug off you talking petri dish! That's private!' 'Oh come now, I'm not going to reveal anything personal, I would've been set on fire long ago if I did. Let's see here ...oooohhhhh. A boy, well this is a first. Never knew that someone this young would have such an attachment this strong.' 'Make any comment about this and I swear that I'll repurpose you as a jock strap. I don't care how long it takes.' 'Oh ho! Fiery aren't we? Well I know where you're going.' "Gryffindor!"

Marie shoved the hat off her head and walked away quickly before she was tempted to stamp on the hat before sitting down next to Hermione, barely noticing her black tie changing to a striped red and gold one. She looked up to watch the rest of the sortings, but she didn't really care whether "Moon, Lily." wound up in Slytherin or if "Macmillan, Ernie." was placed in Hufflepuff (though she did chuckle when Neville ran to the Gryffindor table with the Sorting Hat still on his head and had to go back and return it), she was mainly waiting to see whatever fate would happen to her kinda-but-not-really friends. Both "Patil, Pavarti" and "Perks, Sally-Anne" joined the Gryffindor table while the pale faced moron joined his goons in Slytherin, followed by "Nott, Theodore." and "Parkinson, Pansy." When "Potter, Harry." was called, she was slightly irritated by the buzz of muttering that pounded her ear drums as Harry spent more than a minute under the hat before he was sent to Gryffindor with a standing ovation (the Weasley twins cheering "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!"). She grabbed him and dumped him right next to her and opposite the ruffled ghost, who patted his arm in encouragement. "This is gonna be our lives for a while, isn't it?" "Unfortunately." Harry muttered, embarrassment evident on his tomato red face.

Luckily for them the sorting was nearly over. "Rivers, Oliver." went to Ravenclaw, followed by "Turpin, Lisa.", "Runcorn, Eliza." joined Gryffindor along with "Thomas, Dean." and "Roper, Sophie." and "Smith, Sally." went to Hufflepuff before a green looking "Weasley, Ron." was called to the stool. Within a ten seconds he was sitting across from them as he too joined Gryffindor. Finally, "Zabini, Blaise" was sorted into Slytherin, McGonagall rolled up the parchment and took the hat and stool away. With the school vibrating in anticipation, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet, his beaming, grandfatherly smile shining through his thick, silvery beard as he spread his arms open, welcoming them all with his very image.

"Welcome, welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" his booming yet soothing voice rang throughout the hall. "Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddmeat! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down and bizarrely, almost the entire school applauded. "Is he-a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy uncertainly. "Mad?" Percy said airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?" Marie, who had been paying attention to the conversation as she needed the answer just as much as Harry, turned her attention back to the table and her eyes widened in shock. The dishes were piled high with food. Mounds of roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb, sausages, bacon and steak. Stacks of boiled, mashed and roast potatoes, peas, carrots, fries, green beans, asparagus, roasted and steamed broccoli, peppermint humbugs and roasted zucchini. Bowls of soup, chowder, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, ketchup, stew, mustard, baked beans and dressing. The smells that radiated from the table moved and meshed together in a tapestry of tastes and sounds could overwhelm anyone and for someone that would sometimes have to survive off of only two meals a day, this was too much for her.

"Marie," Harry asked tentatively. "Are you crying?" "It's so beautiful." Ron looked at her weirdly before pouring a glass of water and throwing it in her face. "Thanks Ron." Marie said sarcastically. "Don't mention it." Ron then dived into some chicken wings, ignoring the glare Marie was leveling at him. The growl of her stomach reminded of her hunger and quickly joined Ron and the rest of the school in feasting.

"That does look good." The ruffled ghost remarked sadly as he watched Harry cut a piece of steak. "Can't you-?" "I haven't eaten in nearly five hundred years." he replied mournfully. "I don't need to of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower." "I know who you are!" Ron exclaimed suddenly. "My brother told me about you. You're Nearly Headless Neck!" "I would prefer you call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-" the ghost started stiffly before he was interrupted by the sandy haired Seamus Finnegan. "Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, almost as if he had been personally insulted. "Like this." he said irritably. He then seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell off his shoulder as if it were on a hinge.

It was clear that whoever tried to behead him had either been really old, really weak, really young, had not properly sharpened the axe that was used, or was ordered to not do it right out of sadistic spite. The flesh looked red and raw, as if it had been freshly cut. Various parts of the neck had small cuts on it from where the axe missed, exposing cut veins and bits of cartilage. The spine was scratched and chipped, protruding from the center of the neck stump like a tumor. The only reason that his head was still attached to the torso was about two centimeters of skin and sinew that had been left behind, a testimate to when the axeman finally got sick of chopping Nick's head and said "Screw it. It'll do." Most of the students reeled back in shock, disgust, horror and surprise. Marie wasn't one of them. "Do you do birthday parties, I'm asking for a friend." Nick winked at Marie, looking quite pleased with himself, and returned his head to its former position. "So-new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. The Slytherins have got the cup the last six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's almost unbearable." At the confused looks he got, he pointed to the Slytherin table. "He's the Slytherin ghost." And what a ghost he was. Gaunt and miserable looking with hollow, black staring eyes and robes stained with silvery blood, he looked like he wouldn't be out of place in a gothic horror film. He was sitting next to Malfoy, who looked like he wanted to desperately be somewhere else. "He did he get covered in blood?" Seamus asked in macabre interest. "I never asked." Nick replied before moving down the table.

The feasting lasted for sometime, Marie finding herself having seconds of everything, even the salad, before they stopped having the main meal, allowing the food to fade from the table to be replaced with delectable desserts. Towers of ice creams of many different flavors, bowls of jello and pudding, plates of cakes, tarts and pastries and tins of pies covered the table, a dentist's nightmare made real.

Marie was helping herself to a slice of cheesecake as the conversation transitioned to a talk about families. "I'm half and half." Seamus said through a spoonful of mousse. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." "Seems kind of dangerous." Marie commented. "That's not exactly something that should be kept hidden until after the honeymoon." "Yeah well, Dad says that he thinks of it as Mom's special surprise." The rest of the group laughed and even Marie couldn't help but giggle at Seamus's wording.

"What about you Neville?" Ron asked as he helped himself to some fruit tart. "Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch, but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages." he said miserably. "My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off guard and force some magic out of me-he pushed me of the end of Blackpool pier once. I nearly drowned. But nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out an upstairs window by my ankles when my Great Aunt Enid offered him a meringue and he accidently let go. But I bounced all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should've seen their faces when I got in here-they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad." "You're family is kind of messed up Nev." Marie said harshly. "If I were in your position, I would've thrown the toad in your Uncle's face if he almost killed me twice. And kicked him in the crotch before calling social services." Neville blushed. "They just want me to do my best." Marie scoffed.

"What about you then?" Seamus asked. "I never met a Yank that wasn't a tourist before. What's your story?" Marie sipped a goblet of pumpkin juice, trying to ignore the eager glances that were now directed at her. "Actually rather similar to yours. Just switch the genders around and make my mom an American and it's not that different." "Oh come on." Ron said tactlessly. "You were openly crying before the feast just by looking at the food. There has to be more than that." He drew back in fear at Marie's glare and any further conversation about her family ended.

Eventually, the desserts too disappeared and the hall fell silent as Dumbledore rose to his feet once again. "Ahem-just a few more words now that you're all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the foreston the ground is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." His eyes flashed over to the Weasley twins, missing the mischievous glint in Marie's eyes that grew with everything that she wasn't allowed to do. 'Gonna do that.' "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes or in the corridors." 'Definitely doing that.' "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." A few people laughed at that. ``Oh come on, now you're just begging me to do it. You even gave me a loophole to exploit.'

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" At Dumbledore's impassioned announcement, the other teachers smiles became grimaces. Dumbledore began joyfully, in a sporadic solo, before a confused mish mash of different voices and styles joined in one of the corniest numbers Marie had ever seen, let alone been part of.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts.

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Everybody finished the song at different times. Some finished as quickly as possible, almost as if trying to get it over with, others finished by holding out the last note like an aria and still others attempted to give the lyrics a melancholy emotion of a folk song. Eventually only the Weasley twins and Marie were left singing, the Weasley's twins singing the song like a slow funeral march and Marie a plodding and growling death metal tune, each competing with each other to see which of them can finish last. Dumbledore conducted the last few verses with his wand as the three of them came to the last note. They all held out the last note as long as they could, with Marie barely winning in the end, resulting in the hall erupting in applause. "Ah, music." Dumbledore said as he wiped tears from his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Percy lead Marie and the other first years through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. Most of them were tired, yawning and dragging their feet as the moved down corridors, cut through secret passages and climbed numerous flights of stairs. Marie herself wasn't much better, as she felt her eyelids droop further and further with every step. Her eyes glazed over and it was likely she would've fallen asleep on her feet when the crowd stopped. A bundle of walking sticks were floating in the air above them and when Percy tried to move past them they started to throw themselves at him. "Peeves," Percy whispered reassuringly. "A Poltergeist." He strode forward and shouted "Peeves, show yourself." A loud raspberry released into the air, mocking Percy. "Do you want me to get the Bloody Baron?" There was a loud pop and a little man with wicked, dark black eyes, slicked back black hair, a wide, evil grin and pointed ears appeared, floating cross-legged in mid air, clutching the walking sticks. "Oooooooh! Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He cackled evilly. He swooped down causing them all to duck. "Go away Peeves, or the Baron will hear about this! I mean it!" Percy barked. Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the sticks on Neville's head, his progress marked by the decreasing sounds rattling coats of armor.

"You want to watch out for Peeves." Percy warned as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are." At the very end of the corridor they where on hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. "Password?" she asked. "Caput Draconis." Percy answered. The portrait swung open to reveal a round hole in the wall. They scrambled through it into the Gryffindor common room, a cozy room with soft armchairs, a couch that was situated in front of a crackling fire, several mahogany desks and work tables and wall tapestries of pale red and muted gold.

Percy directed the boys to one of the doorways exiting the room and the girls through another. Too tired to complain, Marie followed her new roommates up one final flight of stairs to a dorm room. There were six twin sized poster beds with deep red curtains. Their trunks had been brought up, Marie's gray plastic trunk clearly juxtaposed with the others. Too tired to talk, and barely awake enough to think, the girls changed into their night clothes and fell into a deep, uneventful sleep.

**Sorry that this took so long to come out. The holiday season is ramping up and since one of our associates quit I had to start taking on a heavier workload. I'll try to get the next chapter out before Christmas, as it is an important one. I'm taking us back to the muggle world to see how Double-D and the rest of the cul-de-sac kids are doing, really hoping you enjoy that one. After that, the next two chapters will be at Hogwarts, then another Muggle one and then two more chapters and then one more and so forth. I may change that if I decide that I need to have more time at Hogwarts for more character development or if I want to spend more time at the cul-de-sac, but this is that rough outline that I have in my head right now. Hope to see you again soon, and goodnight. **


	11. Why so I feel empty?

**Merry Christmas, I guess. I don't particularly care for the holiday and would rather not celebrate it, but I know that there are people that would appreciate it if I wished them a happy holidays, so might as well. Here I take us back to my favorite character from Ed, Edd and Eddy, Double D. I just really relate to this guy, maybe it's because I like how enerist and polite he is. He's just so likeable and was a great straight man for zanier Ed and Eddy. He also worked well off of Rolf and Kevin and I feel that he would've worked well as a solo character as much as he did as part of an ensemble. The main reason I'm working on Marie as the main character instead of Double-D is two fold. First, I want to work on my ability to write female characters and second, he doesn't provide me as many interesting story telling avenues that haven't been done by other good writers. Check out "To Ed is Human, To Forgive is Kanker.", "Some are Born Lucky.", "Bad Girls with Big Hearts.", "NotEd to self.", "Misrepresentations.", "Ed, Edd and Eddy: Summer Camp Love." and "Ed, Edd and Eddy: A Weekend Alone." to see what I mean (also there's this really good crossover fic between Ed, Edd and Eddy and Devilman: Crybaby. It has a Tvtropes page and everything, seriously check it out!). So I thought, lets focus on a tale where they're not really together but still find love with each other. Add in my love of crossover fics and things were off to the races. Now, I'm just doing the one chapter right now, time hasn't exactly passed far enough for me to do more than one chapter in the Peach Creek at this time, but there will be more Peach Creek chapters in a row in the future, I'm thinking either after they meet Fluffy or after the first Quidditch matches that allows for more time to pass between set pieces. I hope you enjoy it and I do not own Ed, Edd and Eddy or Harry Potter, AT&T, Warner Media and J.K. Rowling do.**

**Why do I feel empty?**

The drone of the crowd buzzed in Double-D's ears as he put his morning text books in his locker and retrieved a brown paper bag from it's depths. As he gently closed the door and joined the rest of the throng that was headed towards the cafeteria he pulled out a notepad and flipped through it eagerly. His first Latin class was later that day and he was looking forward to it, and was planning on practicing some Latin greetings during study hall that day. As he entered the cafeteria he spotted his friends already sitting by themselves at the end of one of the long tables. They had appeared to have gotten the school lunches, as Ed was chowing down on what seemed to be some kind of brown meat while Eddy was lazily eating a few slices of pepperoni pizza.

"Salutations gentlemen, how are you on this wonderful school day?" he asked cheerfully. Eddy glared at him. "What's so great about school? If anything, this is even worse than the previous one. At least then we had recess." Eddy bit angrily into a slice, tearing into the stiff piece of cheese and cardboard with the ferocity of a rottweiler. "On top of that, I have to do a book report on _The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe_ by next week and because you're in different classes than Ed and I are, I can't crib off of ya." Double-D frowned. "Eddy, you need to start doing your own work at some point. I'm not going to be there to bail you out anymore. Besides, the allegory in _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ is so easy to spot that even Ed shouldn't have a hard time with this." Eddy huffed and turned back towards his meal.

Double-D sat down and pulled from his bag a grilled chicken salad, a bottle of apple juice and a tub of greek yogurt as he joined his friends in their midday meal. "I tell ya, what is the point of what we're learning?" Eddy said through a mouthful of pizza. "It's not like we're going to need most of this at some point, especially considering what most of us want to be when we grow up. Who cares if I don't know how to use the quadratic equation? It's not like I'm going to be a physicist or mathematician anyway." Double-D gave Eddy a slight glare, but he couldn't really argue with his logic. "Because if the school gets a high test rating from us on our end of the year exams, the government will give the school more money for their programs." "WHAT?!" Eddy shouted abrasively. "You mean I'm being used to get somebody else more money for a product that I don't need?!" "Well I wouldn't put it like that, you do need an education Eddy if you want to survive in society." Eddy growled and put his head on the table. "Besides Eddy, I find education to be rather illuminating. They anatomy of different species, the culture of civilizations got by, the ideas presented in literature, they are all just so fascinating! In fact just the other day I was reading about the dichotomy of the golden spiral in architecture. You would not believe how many buildings implement it somewhere in their design. For example ..."

Eddy tuned Double-D out as he kept rambling about what seemed to be some famous Renaissance church that he didn't know about or care to know about. He started to look around the cafeteria, glowering at the people around the hall. His gaze lingered at the bit of table that held most of the rest of the cul-de-sac kids. Kevin was making a joke that was getting a laugh out of Nazz and Rolf, while Johnny was looking at him in slight confusion. He growled as he watched Nazz lean into Kevin's shoulder, the slight blush on his face matching the hat he wore on his head.

Eddy turned away, disgusted at the sight he just witnessed. 'What on earth does she see in him?' he groused. 'She don't know what she's missing.' As he looked around, he spotted Lee and May, sitting at a round table by themselves along the edges of the cafeteria, away from the rest of the school. 'Would've probably had her by now if it weren't for her.' His blazing glare bore into the back of Lee's head, unyielding loathing oozing out of every orifice. He had good reason to hate her, as she had made his life a living hell for the better part of three years now. Double-D maybe able to at least be cordial with his Kanker while she was molesting him, but after Lee tried to sexually assault him the shower, he would never forgive her, let alone like her.

Speaking of Kankers, Eddy didn't see a familiar lock of blue hair amongst the sisters. Thinking back on it, he hadn't seen her in almost a month. While Lee and May had kept up their antics of chasing, stalking, battery, assault, smothering, sexual harassment and bullying, Marie had seemed to have disappeared since she set the Spinner on fire (he was never able to get a straight answer on how she was able to accomplish this, other than it had seemed to spontaneously combust). She didn't chase Double-D with her sisters, she didn't bully any of the other kids, she wasn't even seen bumming around the junkyard or the construction site. It was almost as if she had never existed.

Eddy turned back and saw that Double-D had finished. "Hey Sockhead, what did you do to get your Kanker off your back?" Double-D looked at Eddy quizzically. "I didn't do anything Eddy. Her mother just transferred her to another school." Eddy looked at Double-D confused. "What? How on earth did a Kanker get transferred? I would've thought she would've been held back a year." "Oh Eddy," Ed said cluelessly. "Didn't you know that Marie was the number two student in the school? She was on the honor list and everything." Eddy and Double-D looked at Ed in stunned silence. "Ed, how do you know that?" Double-D asked. "A little birdy told me Double-D."

The two of them stared exasperatingly at Ed before shaking themselves out of their confusion. "Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question. Why did Ms. Kanker transfer her daughter?" "From what she told me, apparently her dad went to the school that she sent her to and she wanted her to experience it." Double-D said meekly. "That's it?" Eddy asked irritably. "I don't see the other Kanker's being sent to their dad's schools in order to experience it. Where is this school anyway?" "Scotland I think." "WHAT?!" Eddy shouted, causing the entire lunchroom to go silent at how loud he was. "WHAT UTTER BULL CRAP! HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET SO LUCKY AS TO HAVE YOUR KANKER SENT TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FRICKING OCEAN?!"

Double-D looked around and saw that almost every eye in the cafeteria was suddenly on them. Some were looking at them with looks of surprised glee like Johnny, others with silent contempt like Kevin and others were looking at them with confused indifference like Rolf. The only ones who weren't looking at them were the remaining Kanker sisters, who took their lunch and walked stoically out of the lunch room, Double-D catching a glimpse of a tear rolling down May's face.

"Eddy," Double-D whispered sternly. "I can understand your frustration but can you keep your voice down? You're making a scene." Eddy swiveled his beady eyes around the room before slumping bitterly back in his seat. "It's just not fair. How come the best of the Kanker has to leave while the worst one stays." Double-D was shocked. "Best?" Eddy rolled his eyes. "Comparatively speaking. She's the only one that hasn't broken into any of our houses and anyone that completely destroys a school can't be all bad." "Your logic is an inspiration to us all Eddy." Double-D snarked dryly. "I know right." Double-D tuned out Eddy's ramblings and focused on his salad.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly for Double-D. Latin was rather interesting as the teacher had them translating simple sentences, greetings and back and forth conversations mostly. He was also able to have an enjoyable discussion on Shakespeare's _Coriolanus_ and was looking forward to spending the next month reading the play in detail. As the final bell rang at 3:00, he was almost disappointed that they were going home. He killed that thought as he went to his locker to get his briefcase and jacket. It was only the second day of school, he had an entire school year to enjoy.

As he took his things out of his locker, he reflexly looked over his right shoulder and then peeked behind the locker door. No one was there. Double-D shook his head and took his things out of his locker. He didn't know why he kept doing this. Maybe it was because of paranoia or muscle memory but he seemed to always be on edge. He had been doing this for a month now, but nothing had happened to him so far. 'I can't believe I've gotten used to getting attacked by Kankers that it's abnormal when I'm not being attacked by them.' Not that Double-D missed them. As much as he sympathized with his friends when they were under attack during the last few weeks, he couldn't help but privately admit that it felt good that he was being ignored. But still…

Double-D exited the school building. The hot air of the late summer had arrived during the day, forcing Double-D to carry his brown jacket under his arm. He knew that he needn't wait for Ed and Eddy as they were at football tryouts, Eddy being determined not to be relegated to the school mascot again this year, so he felt that he could just leave now and get started on his lab reports for next monday. As he was turning the corner he saw an unusual sight.

It was May. She was throwing an old tennis ball against the side of the school building, catching it as it bounced off the brick wall and back into her hands before hurling it back. Lee was nowhere to be seen. Double-D watched for a good few seconds, his curiosity peaked as he had never seen a Kanker sister alone outside of class.

"Um, hello." May bobbled the tennis ball as it returned to her, dropping it on the ground before turning to the sudden voice. "Oh, uh, hi." May stammered. Double-D was put off slightly by this, as he never assumed a Kanker to be shy. "You don't have to worry about me, I was just passing through and I just saw you by yourself." he said politely. "Where is your sister by the way, I thought you would've been together." May rubbed her arm, refusing to look at his face. "Lee got into a fight with an eighth grader. He thought that he could take on an infamous Kanker sister and 'show her her place.' she spat hateful. She then smirked, reminding Double-D that although she was acting vulnerable in front of him, she was still a Kanker. "He had to be taken to the hospital with two broken limbs and a cracked rib cage, so she got a month of detention." 'That explains the sirens that showed up an hour ago.' he mused. "So I guess you're just waiting for her." May picked the ball up off the ground. "Partly." She then looked towards the horizon. "But mostly I just don't want to be home right now."

The sad glint in her eyes were all he needed to know. "Want to go to the park?" he asked tentatively. May looked at him for a moment, perplexed, before melancholy settled over her eyes again. "Okay."

The two of them walked in silence, Double-D slightly panicking as he castized himself. 'Curse my bleeding heart, why am I doing this? I mean I know why, but I just willingly allowed myself to go somewhere voluntarily with a Kanker! What on earth am I thinking?!' He looked at May out of the corner of his eyes, watching her walking morosely ahead of him. 'I can't leave now either, mother would be so mad at me if she found out. Besides, I couldn't properly call myself a gentleman if I don't try to help her.'

The two of them walked for a good half an hour, as the school wasn't really far from where they lived. They went over to the broken set of swings near the edge of the park near the construction site. The two of them sat down on the remaining two functioning seats of the swing set and just sat there, a cool breeze lightly rustling the trees nearby.

"How of things going on back home?" Double-D asked timidly, almost forcing the words out of his mouth. May smiled a bit. "Asking a girl about her feelings? How flattering." She batted her eyes at him. "Can you stop trying to flirt with me, I'm being serious." He then looked around. "Besides, I don't want people to see you doing that with me, remember that Valentine's Day two years ago?" May winced. Nobody knew what had happened that day, though Rolf claimed that mountain pixies had drugged everyone with amphroxiacs (with Sarah and Jimmy flinching whenever they were in ear shot). While it was funny that Eddy had fallen in love with Plank and that Ed had fallen in love with a sandwich, the whole situation had gotten out of control when Edd and May had been the first to fall under that hypnotic sway. Even after they had been cured, May couldn't deny that despite her love for her Big Ed, there was still something about Double-D that attracted her to him.

"Things back home are fine." she lied. She tried to sound fine but even she noticed that it sounded forced. Double-D raised an eyebrow, his face silently expressing 'Really?'. May looked away, unable to look him in the eye. "No. In fact things haven't been well for awhile now. Ever since that letter came." Double-D saw many things blossom from May's eyes. Anger, loneliness, jealousy, loathing and most prominently, regret. "I take it Marie's acceptance letter wasn't well received?" A tear ran down May's face. "No." she replied somborly.

Double-D gazed at May as she was consumed by her melancholy. In the times that she and her sisters had bullied or molested them, he would sometimes forget that they were human beings like him, and looking at May now, he realized that that was something that he needed to never do again. Looking at May right now was no different than looking at any other sad little girl that was having a bad time at home.

"Do you miss her?" May nodded weakly. "It's not just that though, something happened." May again nodded. "Something that you were involved in?" May nodded again, her lips trembling. Double-D shifted in his seat, so that he was giving May his full attention. "May, I know that we don't have the best relationship, but I need you to talk to me." May nodded again and whipped the tears from her eyes with her knuckle. "We pushed her away. I don't know if it's because of resentment, or some other reason, but Lee and I just pushed her away and when I realized what I was doing, I was just too ashamed of myself to reach back out to her before she left." Her eyes looked back up and saw some of the Cul-de-Sac kids were enjoying the afternoon by playing a game of street hockey. "It's not as if she wanted to leave us. If anything she wanted to even less than we did, she just accepted the inevitable before the rest of us did." "Yeah," Double-D said, the image of scorching flames flashing across his memory banks, "I think I can understand. But I have to ask, why just her? I know your mother didn't want to send her away and that Marie wanted to go with you to Peach Creek Junior High, so why did she send her instead of all of you." May glared at him. "Why do you care?!" she shouted. "Shouldn't you be glad that you don't have to deal with her. I know you don't like her, and for good reason! So why. Do. You. Care!?"

Double-D paused to think. Why did he care? While he was always taught by mother to turn the other cheek and to be polite to others, Marie was one of only three people that he felt that he couldn't do that for (the others being Lee and Kevin). He didn't like her and at times there were instances where he hated her. While he was able to keep his restraint with Marie's mother, he couldn't help feeling a bit smug whenever Eddy complained about the Kankers. In fact he hadn't felt this relaxed since before he met the Kankers in that trailer all those years ago. He slept better, he felt more confident in his works and there were fewer bruises on his body at the end of each week (not that they weren't there, when one gets involved in one of Eddy's scams you tend to get hurt often). Why did he care if his life was so much better now? At that moment, an image of tear stained hazel eyes filled his vision as clear if it had been reflected back by a mirror.

"Because I can't help but sympathize with someone who needs help. Any help, and I would never be able to forgive myself if I don't offer that person my hand." It was true, he did genuinely feel that way, he just didn't think May needed to hear his main reason. May's eyes softened before she turned away and scoffed. "Of course, the kind and noble Eddward Vincent. Always the polite one, always needing to be nice to everyone, even the people he hates." Double-D frowned. "I don't hate you. Fear you definitely, but I don't hate you." May looked at him sceptically. "Look, I know that sounds crazy, but you're not a bad person in my mind. Naive and a natural follower but I do believe that you mean well." May still looked at him sceptically. He sighed. "I wouldn't have kept the valentine you gave me if I didn't."

May's eyes widened slightly, and her face turned a light pink. She turned and stared at her feet, unable to look him in the eye. "Uh, thanks. I didn't think you would've kept it when we returned to our senses." Double-D smiled. "I wouldn't have done it. Even if it had been given by Marie I would've kept it, because it was given out of kindness and consideration, and I appreciate that." May blushed a deeper pink, but smiled at the complement.

Double-D then decided to bring the topic of the conversation back to the original point. "You said that you pushed Marie away earlier." He stated tentatively. "May I ask why?" May frowned slightly, her hands clenched tightly on the chains of the swing. "You know how my sisters and I have different fathers?" Double-D nodded, his mind flashing back to their first meeting when they told he and his friends that they had been put in their dads bathrobes. "Lee and I know very little about ours. Heck, I only know my father's name, mom refuses to talk about him at all. Marie, on the other hand knows nearly everything about her father, mother keeps pictures of him in the house and now Marie gets to go to the same place that he went to school. I know that mom tries not to let it show but she clearly shows which one of us is the favorite." she ranted, her voice rising in volume and intensity as she got closer to the end. She took several deep, gulping breaths in order to calm down, but Double-D noticed that she was still tense, her hands clenching and unclenching the chains as she scowled.

"I take it that that seemed to be one step too far?" Double-D asked timidly. May huffed. "It's aggravating! She never shoved it in our faces but it's clear as day whenever she has these private times with mom, or when she gets another story about her dad. There's always this joyful grin or appreciative smile whenever she's compared to him. And...and..." May temper was snuffed as easily as if a wood fire had been by dirt. She looked down, ashamed and despondent. "And I hate that. Not so much as her learning about her dad and me not learning about mine. Mom probably has a good reason to not tell me, I get that. But my sister, when she sent back that letter I was afraid." Double-D looked confused. "Of what?" May sniffed. "That she'll change. That she won't be my sister anymore."

Double-D stared at May as she wiped her eyes. "I know, it's stupid. God I realized that after a week that that wouldn't be true. And so what if she does change, she'll still be my sister, I care about her too much to let that happen. But, it's just been us for most of our lives. The Kanker Sisters. Us against everybody. I knew that we'd end up forging our own paths eventually, I just thought we had a little longer."

Double-D slowly and anxiously extended his hand and placed it on May's shoulder. Her head swung up, glancing between his hand and his face in disbelief. "What you're feeling isn't stupid." he stated firmly, his hand clutching her shoulder to keep it from shaking. "I'll admit that she will change, it happens as we grow up. The people that we were when we were eleven will be vastly different from the people we'll be when we're seventeen. And it's natural for you, for anyone really to have separation anxiety in a situation like this. I'm sure if you wrote to Marie she'll understand. And you especially shouldn't be ashamed of being resentful towards your mother because she favors one sibling, however unintentionally over you." He sighed as he caught his breath, his adrenaline levels receding. "You shouldn't feel ashamed for being jealous."

May didn't really know how to react to this. He was right, but hearing Double-D tell her this was still a bit surreal to her. She numbly nodded. Double-D removed his hand from her shoulder and the two returned to sitting silently on the swings. May swung her legs back and forth, tempted to move the swing, but eventually decided against it. She looked over at Double-D, who was looking at the blue sky, lost in his own thoughts. "Hey," she said quietly. Double-D looked back over. "Do you think we can talk again? This feels nice." Double-D saw the honesty in her eyes as she said this and surprisingly, he agreed with her. "Yeah, maybe we can meet like this. Just ourselves, talking." "Yeah," May whispered, a calm joy inflected by her voice. "I'd like that.

May rose from her seat. "I'm gonna go write a letter to Marie. I hope that she isn't too miserable over there." She turned to Double-D, now feeling very awkward with him. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." "Right." Double-D stammered. "See ya tomorrow." May turned and took off, climbed over the chainlink fence and took off down a dirt path into the woods and out of sight.

Double-D left the park and wandered over towards the Cul-de-Sac. The game of street hockey had ended and he saw Rolf harvesting some wheat while Jimmy and Sarah were playing fashion runway with Nazz. It was a peaceful day, one of the most peaceful he's had in years and yet something now felt off about it. He looked over at a bush near his house at the very edge of the Cul-de-Sac and checked it. No one was there, yet for some reason he wasn't relieved that nobody was there, but disappointed. This wasn't the first time he did this or felt this. If anything it had become a regular occurrence over the last few weeks. He entered his house, trying to figure out why.

'Why do I feel like this? It can't have been from the talk with May, I felt this way before this.' he thought as he moved up the stairs towards his room. He opened his door and went over to his desk. 'I can't focus on that right now. I need to start on these lab sheets.' As he sat down and reach into his bag, he felt a piece of paper with some soft strands on it. He withdrew his hand and saw that it was a lock of blue hair taped to it. He flipped the note over and read _So you don't forget her. May._ He smiled for a second before his eyes widened in fear. 'Oh god I miss her don't I?'

** Sorry for the short chapter, I was working everyday for an entire week before Christmas and it took ten days to get this much. Before you ask, Edd/May isn't end game, but since it's common to have multiple relationships in a lifetime, I will include shades of it and Edd/Nazz as I want them involved in the story more. Hogwarts is the next two chapters and I hope you enjoy all of it. A Happy Holidays for all of you and I'll see you next time!**


	12. The Potions Master

**Well, the holidays are over, I'm heartily glad of it. Just got to do a few more things before normality can return and I can write more often. I'm hoping to get this chapter out by New Year's, so if I don't at least I tried. Hope you all had fun holidays wherever you are. Huh, guess I don't really have much more to talk about. That's new. Hopefully there isn't going to be a recurrence. I do not own Harry Potter or Ed, Edd and Eddy. They are owned by J.K. Rowling, At&T and Warner Media.**

**The Potions Master**

"There, look." "Where?" "Next to the tall kid with the red hair and the short girl with blue hair." "Wearing the glasses?" "Did you see his face?" "Did you see his scar?" It had been nearly a week since Marie had come to Hogwarts and so far she could say that the entire experience has been a mixed bag. The castle itself was very interesting, with sentient suits of armor that walked the hallways with the students, paintings that left their frames in order to visit other paintings and numerous passageways, hidden doors and doors that weren't doors at all. The staircases (of which there were 142) would move on their own at different times of day, some that had a trick step in it, and others that were more slides than stairs. She could deal without the ghosts though. She had one walk through her when she was opening a door and the experience was like being drenched by freezing rain. Okay, Nick was fine. Peeves was also something she could do without and his pranks, if you could call them that. Pulling rugs from under people, turning invisible and shouting "Got your conk.", dumbing paper baskets on people's heads and throwing chalk at others was something that Peeves seemed to do often. And Marie couldn't tell if she didn't like him because she hated him as a person or if she was infuriated at how amatuer the pranks he made were.

The only other person that she met that she disliked more than Peeves (besides Malfoy) was Filch the caretaker. She had gotten on his bad side with Ron and Harry when they were trying to get into a locked door on their first morning of classes. Turned out the door they were trying to get through was the locked door to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor and he didn't believe them when they told him there were lost. In fact if it weren't for a passing teacher named Professor Quirrell, they would've gotten detention. Filch was a foul man with strands of greasy hair and skin that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks, a few missing teeth and beady, malevolent stormy grey eyes. It wouldn't surprise Marie if his deepest desire was to kill all of them at the Starting Feast as coldly and as bloodily as possible. His cat, Mrs. Norris, was almost as bad, acting as his eyes and ears as it patrolled the corridors on her own, finding trouble makers before drawing Filch towards her like a moth to a flame within thirty seconds from some hidden passage that only he knew about. All the students hated him and many dreaming of giving Mrs. Norris a good kick or throwing her scrawny, dust colored body off of the nearest tower.

And then there were the classes. Some of them Marie found to be rather useful. Astronomy was had every Wednesday night in the Astronomy Tower, where they learned about the different stars, the movements of planets and the constellations. Marie found this to be one of her favorites, if it was a little basic, due to the combination of mathematics and science. She had actually talked to the teacher, Professor Sinistra, about it the next day in between classes and was surprised to find out that she was a big fan of Stephen Hawking and even had a copy of Hawking's _Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays_. Herbology was also very interesting. Three times a week, she would go with her classmates down to the green houses and learn about magical herbs and fungi, how to take care of them and what they were used for from a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout. It was essentially botany and after looking ahead in her science textbook (which her mother had gotten for her along with her other muggle textbooks before she left), she made sure to take meticulous notes.

Other subjects were more interesting than useful, at least in her mind. Charms was a particularly fun class, as Professor Flitwick, who was a small wizard that had to stand on books stacked on a chair in order to see over his desk, was a cheerful yet engaging teacher who taught them basic spells that he said were useful in everyday life, but Marie found to be rather frivolous and even unnecessary, which caused her to think that the spells might've been made because the creator was lazy. Transfiguration was stressful. McGonagall had proven how stern at the beginning of their first class when she gave them all a dressing down to. "Transfiguration is some of the complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." she stated. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." With that ultimatum hanging over their heads, she changed her desk into a pig and back. The whole class had been excited about doing something similar, until McGonagall told them that they wouldn't be doing that until at least fifth year. Instead, they were given a match and told to turn it into a needle. By the end of it only she and Hermione had really done anything, Hermione having made the match silver and having a pointy end while Marie had made a wooden needle and gotten rid of the white phosphorus, but had failed to change its color or from wood to metal. McGonagall had still praised them for doing that much and had even given Marie ten points for technically making the match into a needle, even if it wasn't complete.

Others meanwhile were agonizingly disappointing. History of Magic was taught by Professor Binns, an old ghost who had fallen asleep one day in the staff room and left the next morning to teach while leaving his body behind. That unfortunately was the only interesting thing about him. With the look of a sentient turtle and the droning voice of Ben Stein, Marie decided after two minutes of her first class that she was either better off napping or working on her homework for other classes and that she could learn more about goblin rebellions and leaders like Uric the Oddball and Emetic the Evil by reading her textbook in her spare time and most of her classmates agreed with her as by the end of the same class only Hermione was paying attention to Professor Binns, and even then Marie could tell that she was bored out of her mind.

But even that wasn't her least favorite class. That was Defense Against the Dark Arts and it all had to do with the professor. Professor Quirrell was a shattered wreck of a man, with fearful teal blue eyes, a wiry thin frame with constantly shaking hands, a chattering stutter and a giant purple turban that smelled heavily. He claimed that he had gotten the turban as a thank you gift from an African prince for getting rid of a zombie, but when she and Seamus Finnegin had asked him how he had done so, he changed the subject and started talking about the weather. His classroom wasn't much better as it smelled so heavily of garlic that it was hard to breath. Most claimed that it smelled that way because of a vampire had met in Romania that he feared to this day. The Weasley twins suspected that he also carried garlic under his turban so that he was protected wherever he went. As for what they learned, Marie found that this was another class that she had to read the book outside of class if she wanted to learn anything, as Quirrell's stutter was so pronounced that it was difficult to understand a lot of what he was saying.

On top of that Marie had to fulfill her promise to herself and McGonagall in order to complete her private muggle studies. While she didn't have to worry about P.E. or extra curricular activities like Home E.D., Tech class or music, she still had to do the primary classes she was taking and learn two languages. She spent a lot of her free time when she wasn't in class working on worksheets and writing translations of French and German sentences that she turned into Professor McGonagall after dinner everyday (she had apparently gotten a BA in Education back in the fifties and an M.A. in the sixties). It was fortunate that she wasn't miles behind everyone else and that she was stubborn before reason otherwise she would've cracked.

Surprisingly, the best part of Hogwarts so far were her roommates and the other Gryffindors of her year. Except Pavarti Patil and Lavender Brown. They were two girly girls obsessed with looks, fashion and horoscopes and were aghast when they saw Marie change into boxers on the first morning. Since then they would turn her noses up at her whenever they passed each other. Her other roommates were better, but not great. Sally-Anne Peaks was a rather demure and shy girl that was so quiet that whenever she answered a question she was constantly being told to speak up. The fact that she was the only other person in their year besides Harry that wore glasses was her only distinct feature. Marie tried being nice to her, but she seemed almost afraid of her, so Marie decided to wait for her to make the first move. Eliza Runcorn was a normal posh girl from an old pureblood family that was remarkably intelligent and sharp witted, so naturally Marie got along with her the best, but they didn't have much in common so they were good acquaintances at best. Hermione was more focused on her studies, so she didn't interact with her much.

The boys were a different matter. On the first day of classes she had caught a group of third year Slytherin's picking on Neville on the fourth floor. Within two minutes all five of them were on the ground unconscious with several broken limbs, cracked ribs, a few bruised spines and a cracked pelvis. In that instant, Marie became his idol. While he was demure and accident prone and remarkably forgetful, he would perk up whenever he saw her and was more confident whenever she sat next to him in class. She wouldn't be lying if she said that she wasn't tempted to take advantage of him, but she found his puppy dog attitude enduring. Dean and Seamus were like two peas in a pod. While they weren't as joined at the hip as the Weasley twins, they tended to spend almost all of their time together. Dean was calmer and laid back, with a love for Futbal and art. They had bonded after Dean had seen her reading a book on the works of Frederic Bazille. Turned out, he was Dean's favorite artist and wanted to be a realist painter just like him. Since then they have had debates about Baroque versus Renaissance Art, the ethics of enjoying the works of Edgar Degas and which was the worst art form (Marie said it was Ottonian art, Dean said that it was Postmodernism). Seamus was more hot heated and rash, with a tendency to blow things up with even the simplest of spells. He was Irish to the core and tended to have a vulgar sense of humor that Marie enjoyed and he was starting to teach some U.K. swears.

Somehow though she had found herself spending the most time with Harry and Ron. Maybe it was because they were the first people that she met before coming to Hogwarts, maybe it was because on some level she just liked them for some reason but she couldn't seem to keep away from them. Harry was soft spoken and rather reserved, which was no surprise given that most of the school was staring at him as if he were a zoo exhibit, something that he was clearly uncomfortable with. Marie couldn't put her finger on why she liked him. Maybe it was pity given how bad his home life was. It certainly made her evaluate her homelife. Sure her mom was absent most of the time and she fought with her sisters often, but she cared about her and she them. Harry didn't have that, and she was already making plans to introduce his cousin Dudley to some, 'proper discipline'. Ron was more of a jovial companion, and their personalities was remarkably similar to each other. They were both frustrated about how poor they were, they both had a rather lax attitude and they both wanted to prove themselves better than where they came from.

Maybe that's why she was so possessive of them, as she glared at another crowd of whispering fanboys and fangirls as they made their way down to the Great Hall that Friday morning, finally making it there without getting lost for the first time. She appreciated her comradery with her sisters but there was always an isolating quality to being part of the Kanker sisters. They had a well known reputation to them, and not a good one either, making it impossible to make friends with others because of it. Here, an entire ocean away in a school where nobody knew anything about her, she felt that she could break free of those shackles. She could no longer be Marie Kanker, the devious second child of the Kanker Sisters, she could instead be Marie Kanker, a devious, yet intelligent and loyal friend. It felt strange to her, frightening even. And yet there was this pull that she was starting to respond to. And she didn't know how to feel about it.

"What've we got today?" Harry asked as he poured some sugar on his porridge. "Double Potions with the Slytherins." Ron replied. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them, we'll be able to see if it's true." "Wish McGonagall favored us." Harry muttered, his mind going to the pile of homework she had given them the day before. "She's the Deputy Headmistress, so she has to set an example of not showing favoritism." Marie said. "Besides, I don't think she can get away with giving Ron's brothers leeway. The whole school would be flooded with orange paint if she did." Ron chuckled at this, before they were distracted by the arrival of the mail.

It had been a shock for Marie the first morning when dozens of owls descended from the windows in the upper rafters to deliver mail to the multitude of students below. From screech owls to barn owls to great horned owls and the many species in between they dominated the sky, their daily ritual of bringing tidings from home bringing cheer to the majority of the children. Marie had initially had a twinge of jealousy and sadness at the various owls delivering packages of candy and treats and letters to their families, but she had quashed that after she saw Harry's interactions with his snowy owl, Hedwig. A refined and dignified owl, she would come everyday, despite having no mail to deliver, in order to keep Harry company and sample some of his food. This time though, she had a letter to deliver, which she dropped on Harry's plate.

The letter was written in an untidy scrawl.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?_

_I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig._

_Hagrid_

Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled _Yes, please, see you later_ on the back of the note and sent Hedwig away.

Marie didn't know what to expect when she followed her friends down into the cold, damp dungeons of the castle and into the creepy room with pickled animals floating in glass jars, but she certainly didn't expect to find herself meeting the most unpleasant man in the world. He came in just before class started, his black cape billowing behind him like some overgrown bat. He was a tall, sinister looking man with long, greasy, oil black hair, sallow skin, a large hooked nose and black eyes the same color as his hair that looked at each red and gold tie wearing student with unhidden disdain. He read the names of each student as he did roll call, his eyes coolly passing over the Slytherins and glaring as they passed over the Gryffindors before he stopped at Harry's

"Ah, yes." he uttered softly. "Harry Potter. Our new-celebrity." Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Marie frowned. This wasn't the first time a teacher had stopped at Harry's name as just the other day Professor Flitwick had squecked and fell off his stack of books when he came to Harry's name. But this was different. She could understand if he had said it dismissively, even sarcastically, but his tone, the way he stressed 'celebrity'. This wasn't dislike, this was outright loathing.

Snape finished calling names and looked up at the class, his cold and empty eyes gazing at them like dark tunnels, as if he were staring into their souls. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact act of potion making," he began, speaking in a whisper that gripped his audience with it's hypnotising drawl. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you to really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death-if you aren't a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." More silence followed. Marie saw that Hermione was on the edge of her seat, as if desperate to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead. Neville, who she was sitting next to, looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

"Potter!" Snape snapped. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" 'Powdered root of what to an infusion of what?' Marie looked over at Harry, who looked about as stumped as she was. Hermione meanwhile had shot her hand up into the air. "I don't know sir." Harry replied respectfully. Snape's lip curled into a sneer. "Tut, tut-fame clearly isn't everything." He ignored Hermione's hand. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" This one Marie did know. Her mother was a nurse and had to help remove some from people's intestines. She raised her hand slightly at the same time Hermione raised her hand as far as she could go without leaving her stool. Harry however looked as though he didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. Marie saw that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were shaking with laughter. 'Oh like you morons know what it is either.' she thought snidely. "I don't know sir." Harry again replied politely. "Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?

Marie lowered her hand, setting it on her desk as it clenched into a fist. She glared hatefully at Snape. Did he really expect an eleven year old to remember everything from _Magical Herbs and Fungi_? Sure Hermione probably did, but he was ignoring her still quivering hand, so that wasn't it. He was just targeting Harry for seemingly no reason. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Marie saw Hermione practically leap out of her seat, her hand stretched towards the ceiling. She rolled her eyes. 'Can't she see that he doesn't want the answer? He's just doing this to humiliate Harry in front of the entire class.' "I don't know," Harry answered quietly. "I think Hermione does though, why don't you ask her?" A few people laughed, Seamus catching Harry's eye and winking at him. Snape however, was not happy.

"Sit down." he snapped at Hermione, forcing her to cower back on her stool. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat that is a cure to most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which goes by the name of aconite." His eyes flickered around the room. "Well? Why aren't you all copying this down?" There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor house for your cheek, Potter." Marie snapped her quill between her clenched fist.

Things didn't improve as the lesson went on. Snape put them into pairs and set them to mixing up a cure for boils. Marie was paired with Neville as Snape swept about the room, his long cloak billowing behind him as he watched them weigh dried nettles and crushed snake fangs, criticizing all of them as they went. Except Malfoy, who he seemed to show blatant favoritism to. Marie was watching Malfoy with disdain when she saw that Neville was about to add porcupine quills to the simmering mixture. "Neville wait." she grabbed his fist. She was about to tell him to wait until she had taken the cauldron off the fire before putting them in when she saw Snape regaling the class to see just how perfectly Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs, his smug voice projected towards the Gryffindors in the class. Her stern frown morphed into an evil grin. "Wait until Professor Snape comes over." Neville looked at her with concern, but listened. She then turned to Harry, who she was sitting next to. "If you hear something loud, just get up on your stool." Harry looked at her grinning face debiusely, but nodded nonetheless. Snape finished his posturing and was stalking over towards them, his snide expression etched on his face. "Okay, now." Neville dumped the quills. Almost instantly the potion started to bubble and hiss. "Marie, is that supposed to happen?" Neville whimpered. Marie turned to him with a cheshire grin. "Nope. Better get back, my friend, things are about to get fun." she replied giddly. Neville's eyes widened and he backed away from the table as far as he could just when Snape was peering into their cauldron.

The potion exploded up into Snape's face and melted Neville's cauldron into a twisted blob of metal. Acid green smoke filled the dungeon, making it hard to breath as the students stood on top of their stools in order to prevent the remaining puddle of potion that was seeping across the stone floor from eating their shoes. Above the coughing and Snape's cursing in pain was Marie's hyena like cackle, caring little for the boils that spread across her hands as she was lost in the throes of mirth.

"You!" Snape yelled as he forced his face into hers, boils covering his face as he glared at her in anger. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?!" "Yep." she answered smugly, her grin stretching from ear to ear. "Why did you do it if you knew that this would happen?!" Snape snapped, his eyes glistening with hate. "Well," Marie started matter of factly, tapping her boil covered finger against her chin, pretending to think about it. "I just thought that you could do with a bit of a facial professor. And honestly, I think your new look is a big improvement." Most of the class chuckled as Marie gazed at Snape maliciously, a wicked grin replacing the smug one. "Really goes with the hooked nose and greasy hair. Like a man who hasn't showered in months." The Gryffindors now roared with laughter, Snapes ire raising to levels he hadn't reached in years as his eyes bored into Marie with intense, uncessing venom. "20 points from Gryffindor for deliberately harming a teacher, another 10 for mocking them in front of their classroom and a detention with me on Sunday!" he spat, spittle flying into her face. "Longbottom, take her to the hospital wing!" Marie's grin never left her face as she was escorted from the classroom.

"No way!" "Wicked!" "I can't believe you were able to do that!" Word had spread quickly about her exploits in the potions classroom. By the time she was out of the hospital wing and entered the great hall, the whole school knew and when she sauntered over to the Gryffindor table, a satisfied smile on her face, people started to come up to her to shake her hand, or ask her for details, the bright smiles on their faces and the excited gleam in their eyes showing that Snape was very unpopular. Fred and George were had pestered her along with their friend Lee Jordan for full details and were amazed that she was able to pull it off. "That, was amazing." Fred stated. "Yeah, not even Fred and I were able to get detention with Snape in our first week. Pretty sure that's a school record." George replied. Marie's smile grew. "The greasy bastard had it coming. Humiliating Harry in front of the class for no reason. Going on and on about how great Malfoy's potion was, frankly, he got what he desired." Lee chuckled. "He is a slimy git. Maybe we should give him a forgiveness basket filled with shampoo and conditioner." The four of them laughed uproariously.

"I must admit, that was rather amusing." a regal monotone stated from behind Marie. "Oh hey Daphne." Marie said as she turned around, a small smile on her face. "Good to see that I made your day." The emotionless blonde's mouth twitched upward for a second before settling back into her statue like mask. "It was rather foolish though. You just painted a massive target on your back. I wouldn't be surprised if Professor Snape is planning ways to make your life miserable as we speak."Marie scoffed. "Please, he's a bad teacher with a grudge and I grew up in Englewood before moving to a rundown trailer park, I think I can handle him." Daphne's eyes pinched slightly. "You are a first year student with very little magic experience, he is a wizard who is well regarded as one of the strongest and most talented wizards of the last twenty years. You are literally fighting an uphill battle on this." Marie looked over her shoulder at Lee and the twins. The three of them flashed back a set of evil grins. "I think I'll take my chances." Daphne shook her head. "Well, I wish you the best of luck. Merlin knows you're going to need it."

Lunch passed by uneventfully after that. Marie asked Daphne if she wanted to go with her, Harry and Ron to Hagrid's but she revealed that she had Transfiguration at the same time and couldn't make it. So at five before three the three of them left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden hut on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. When Harry knocked, they heard a frantic scabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "_Back_ Fang-back." Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open. "Hang on," he stated. "_Back_, Fang." He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yerself at home," Hagrid said, gesturing to the table as he let go of Fang's collar. Fang immediately bounded over to Ron and started liking his ears. Like his owner, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he seemed. "This is Marie and this is Ron." Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate. "Another Weasley, eh?" Hagrid uttered, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer brothers away from the forest." Marie chuckled as she helped herself to a rock cake, a misshapen lump with raisins. "Sounds like them." She took a bite into a cake and nearly broke her tooth. "Exquisite." she said through her pain filled jaw.

They told Hagrid about their first lessons while Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes. They were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git." "An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like to introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up to the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her-Filch puts her up to it." Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid roared with laughter at what Marie had done to the potions master. "Heh Heh Heh Heh. I'm not supposed to speak unfavorably of my colleagues, but if there's a man that would bring that on himself it would be Severus Snape. Why did you do it anyway?" Marie leaned back in her chair, a smug grin on her face. "Slimy git was using his position to bully Harry in front of the class, so I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine." Hagrid looked over at Harry in concern. "Now don't worry about it Harry. There's always some student that he decides that he needs ta bring down. I wouldn't worry too much 'bout it." "But Hagrid," Harry responded dejectedly. "He really seems to _hate_ me." "Rubbish." Hagrid asserted. "Why should he?" Marie noticed that Hagrid couldn't quite meet Harry's eyes as he said this.

"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot-great with animals." Marie rolled her eyes, seeing the obvious attempt to change the subject. She had seen Eddy try to pull the same thing multiple times in an attempt to save himself from the mob and failed miserably. While Hagrid was better, as the conversation he switched to was a reasonable one to make at the time, he could've at least ended the conversation differently. While Ron was telling Hagrid about Charlie's work with dragons, she saw Harry grab a piece of paper that was lying under a tea cozy. From where she was sitting she could only make out the words at the top of the page that said _Daily Prophet_ before Harry read the paper with inraptured vigor.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed. "That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!" "What, really?" Marie moved over and read the article from over Harry's shoulder.

_GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that had been searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

"_But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon._

Marie looked over at Harry, who was in a state of deep thought. She could hardly blame him. She remembered the poem and those goblins had looked particularly nasty. The only reason why she could think of why someone would risk crossing them and attempt to steal from them would be either because they had more balls than sense or if they were looking for a specific object that they knew the location of. As they went back up to the castle, their pockets loaded with rock cakes that Marie intended to moisten by the fire, Marie couldn't help but wonder what was taken and where it had been moved to, but most importantly why someone would want it.

** You thought I was going to put Snape and Marie in the same room and not have her try to make his life miserable? Come on, it wouldn't be in her character not to do something him someone as loathsome as Snape. Don't worry about the cleaning jokes, I won't use them that often. I've seen them used to often for them to be completely original anymore, and even the jokes I did are probably found in some other fic that I'm not aware of, so I'm going to use them sparingly. I do plan on giving Peaks and Runcorn more character as I plan to use them in some omake chapters. Not everything at Hogwarts is conspiracy, monster attacks and life and death situations, so I hope to give the main characters some down time, as well as give them some development that I feel I can't do in the regular chapters. As for Hagrid, I hate writing for him. I have to deliberately misspell his dialogue and I find that to be kind of irritating at times. I can copy J.K. Rowling's fine, but when I have to give him original lines, I can never tell if I did or didn't misspell it enough, so it tends to be frustrating. Also, I reached a deadline this time! It probably has to do with having less work hours this week now that the holidays are over but I'm not complaining. The next chapter will hopefully come out by Monday, as I'm working with another Harry Potter chapter. I'll see you soon, have a happy new year and I hope this decade is better than the last one!**


	13. The Midnight Duel

**A new year. A fresh clean start. And I'm spending it doing the same thing I've been doing for the last few months. I guess it's true that the more things change the more they stay the same. I've been working around some ideas, both old and new in my head. A crossover between Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, one between Codename: Kids Next Door and Batman, one between Assassin's Creed and Codename: Kids Next Door, an Attack of Titan solo story, a Code: Lyoko crossover with My Life as a Teenage Robot and a crossover between Naruto and A Song of Ice and Fire. I'm thinking of doing the first one first, somewhere between **_**Goblet of Fire**_** and **_**Order of the Phoenix**_** for a bit and then switching back and forth until Harry Potter is done. The basic synopsis is that due to Multiverse theory that Usagi caused when she reset the universe after the destruction of the Dark Kingdom, Haruka Tenoh is instead born as Haruka Son, the twin sister of Son Gohan and the child of Goku and Chichi, the events of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z are combined and the story changes. I'm planning to make most of the DBZ movies canon, but with altered storylines in order to fit the narrative (only the last two Broly films before Dragon Ball Super won't be counted, I feel that the former plot would interfere with what I need to use from the DBS: Broly movie in regards to the story and the third film thus doesn't happen (also because the third film sucks)). I also intend to have Sailor Moon R: the Movie canon as well. I won't reveal what I intend to do, but I will promise you that I'm going to take a page out of Tribun's **_**No Chance for Fate**_** crossover between Ranma ½ and Sailor Moon and make it so that the Silver Millenium never happens. But I want to know what story idea you want me to do, so just put it down in the review section or send me a message. Now, on with the show. I do not own Harry Potter or Ed, Edd and Eddy. Those are owned by J.K. Rowling, At&t and Warner Media.**

**The Midnight Duel**

Marie never thought that she'd meet a person more annoying than Eddy McGee. With his grating voice, his constant get rich quick schemes and his abrasive attitude, she never understood what Lee saw in him. In fact she was convinced that Lee didn't even like him and just went after him in order to teach him a lesson. Then she met Draco Malfoy. She hated everything about him. From his bleach blonde hair to his smarmy smile to his pale grey eyes to his arrogant attitude to the body guards that seemed to follow him everywhere, she hated Malfoy. Luckily for her, she only had Potions with the brat. So she didn't have to interact with him often, even if the down side was that she wasn't able to see Daphne much. At least, that was the case until a notice was put up in the Gryffindor common room that she saw after she got back from her detention with Snape where she forced her to meticulously categorize all of the ingredients in his cupboard (while he watched her, as if convinced that she would steal something from it). Flying lessons started on Thursday and Gryffindor would be sharing classes with the Slytherins.

"Typical." Harry stated darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy." "You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself." Ron said reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet it's all talk." "And besides, look on the bright side." Marie expressive passively. "At least you won't be the only one making themselves look like an idiot."

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. So much so that Marie had been able to train herself to tune out his voice whenever he spoke. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters, tales that Marie didn't believe a word of as more likely than not he would've ended up on the news by now and the wizarding world would have no way of hiding themselves once they ended up on video tape.

He wasn't the only one though. Seamus would spend hours in the common room telling stories about his travels along the western coast of Ireland, zooming over the granite mountains and skimming across the waters of the Atlantic under the cliffs of Moher in County Clare. Even Ron would tell anyone who would listen about the time he had almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone with at least one wizard in their family seemed obsessed with Quidditch. Ron had gotten into an argument with her and Dean over there prefered versions of football. Ron couldn't see the excitement about a game with one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Harry had told her that he had caught Ron probing Dean's poster of the West Ham Football team, trying to make the players move, and she had caught him staring weirdly at her on Monday night when she was relaxing in the common moon when she was wearing her James Lofton Packers jersey.

Others were too busy panicking to care about the stories though. Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one (with good reason, as Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground). Hermione Granger was almost as nervous as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart from a book, though she did try. At breakfast on Thursday she bored almost all of them stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called _Quidditch Through the Ages_. Neville and Sally-Anne Peaks were the only ones hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help them hang onto their brooms later, but everyone else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.

Marie saw that Hedwig didn't have another letter as she glided over to Harry and took a sip from his orange juice. She couldn't explain it, but she found Hedwig to be kind of soothing, as if her mere presence was all that she needed to know that things were as bad as they seemed. 'Maybe I should get myself an owl.' She then saw Malfoy openly gloating about the package of sweets that he got from home, his eagle owl perched on his shoulder. 'Just not that kind of owl.'

She then spotted a barn owl delivering a small package to Neville. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which was filled with white smoke. "It's a Rememberall!" he exclaimed. "Gran knows I forget things, this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red-oh…" His face fell as the Remembrall turned a bright scarlet. "...you've forgotten something…"

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand. Harry, Ron and Marie jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash. "What's going on?" she asked clippedly. "Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table. "Just looking," he muttered, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. Marie scoffed. "Yeah, sure you were." She then picked up the Remembrall, which turned a light pink. "Neville, does this thing ever tell you what you've forgotten?" Neville shook his head. She returned it to him, put her arms on the table and huffed into them. "Freaking useless." she muttered softly.

At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, Marie and the rest of the Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, the cool wind bringing the last sigh of late summer before the torrential gusts of autumn would take it's waking breath. The grass rippled under their feet as they marched across the sloped lawn towards a smooth, flat field on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty one brooms in neat lines on the ground. Marie asked Fred and George what to expect from the lesson and had to endure a half hour long rant about how bad the school brooms, how some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left or how some of them were so slow that they were out stripped by passing horse flies. Marie had to calm them down before she could actually get them to tell her what to expect (and then she had to help them prank their brother afterward in order to cheer them up. She still wondered how on earth they were able to find a European adder). As they approached the brooms, she saw that Sally-Anne looked like she was about to faint. She gripped her by the shoulders, causing her to squeak in terrified panic. "It's okay, she's not going to have us do much today. Just see as learning how to ride a bike for the first time." Sally-Anne nodded swiftly, her breath coming out quickly and harshly as she hyperventilated. Marie guided her over to an empty space next to some female Slytherin with dark brown hair and took a position next to Daphne, who looked bored about the whole thing.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, soon arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. Her face was just as sharp as her eyes, with a very thin mouth, a narrow nose and shallow cheeks. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." Marie glanced down at the broom and winced. The broom looked as if it had hacked from a tree branch and loosely carved. She could even see that the broom still had a few knots in it and the twigs looked like they haven't been trimmed since the 70's.

"Stick your right hand over the broom," Madam Hooch commanded, "And say up." "UP!" everyone shouted. Marie's broom jumped up into her hand at once, but she was one of the only ones that happened to. Hermione's had simply rolled over on the ground, Neville's hadn't moved at all and Sally-Anne's had done little more than twitch. Perhaps the broom could detect fear, as Neville's voice had said clearly that he wanted to keep his feet firmly on the ground and Sally-Anne's had been barely audible.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry, Ron and Marie were delighted when she told Malfoy that he had been doing wrong for years. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard." she stated. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle-three-two." But Neville, nervous jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising faster than a cork shot out of a bottle-twelve feet-twenty feet. Marie saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, gasp and slip sideways of his broom...right over her head. **WHAM**! There was a thud, the crack of a rifle went off and suddenly Marie found herself underneath a 103lb boy, her shoulder in agonizing pain. Through her wet eyes and the gap between Neville's armpit and his upper arm, she could see the broom drifting lazily towards the forbidden forest and out of sight.

Madam Hooch quickly got Neville off of Marie, a gasp of pain expelling from her throat when Neville put his hand on her right shoulder as he was standing back up. Even after he got up the pain in that area was intense. Madam Hooch gently lifted her up into a sitting position and gentle touching her shoulder, causing her to flinch in agony. "Oh dear, looks like you broke your clavicle when you broke Mr. Longbottom's fall. Come, let's get you up. Mr. Longbottom jammed his fingers when he landed on you, so I'm taking you to the hospital wing." As Madam Hooch got her to her feet, she saw Neville clutching his hand, his face stained with tears. Hooch then turned to the rest of the class. "None of you are to move while I take them to the hospital wing! If I see a single broom in the air, you'll all find yourselves out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'." She then guided Marie and Neville up to the castle.

"I swear this always happens. Some first year always hurts themselves while flying during lessons. I swear if they weren't required to learn, I would advocate their immediate termination." Madam Pomfrey was a very fussy and uptight witch, with a no nonsense attitude that would frighten a lion. Wearing her maroon matrons robes and white matron cap that matched her hair made her look like a normal middle aged nurse, but her steel gray eyes could intimidate even the most uncooperative patient and her lips seemed to always be fixed in a stern frown. She moved swiftly over to Marie, who laying down on her left side. "Although, this is the first time that we've had this happen before. I should be thanking you, if you hadn't disrupted Mr. Longbottom's fall, he would've broken his wrist." Marie snorted derisively. Madam Pomfrey cast a healing charm at the same time and suddenly the pain in Marie's shoulder was gone.

"There, do try to be more careful next time. I don't want to have to see you every week." Marie sat and rotated her right arm. "Don't worry, I don't intend to." She seethed, glaring at Neville, who was sitting on the bed across from her, as she did so. She got some satisfaction from seeing him flinch. Luckily, Pomfrey didn't see. "Alright then, the two of you are free to go. I already told Rolanda that you were excused for the rest of class, so you don't have to worry about missing it." Marie nodded curtly and tore out of the hospital wing, Neville jogging to keep up with her.

"Marie! Marie wait!" Marie was zooming down the corridor, too angry to deal with Neville. She knew logically that it wasn't Neville's fault that she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but she was just too mad to care. She hoped that if she could keep far ahead of the chubby boy, she could lose him. Unfortunately, Neville was very determined to apologize. "Marie!" He quickly moved in front of her, blocking her from ascending the staircases back to the Gryffindor common room. "Marie, I'm sorry that I…" "That I what?!" She interrupted harshly. "That you broke my collarbone? Or that you cost me my first day of flying classes?" Neville stammered, scared nearly out of his mind. "Um...both?" Marie's glare intensified.

"Neville, I have never flown before. I know that to you, being the accident prone screw up that you are, would consider never flying to be one of the greatest things to possibly happen to you. Well, not for me. You see I, unlike you, have a very crappy life. I don't know who my father is, I rarely see my mom because she's working all the time and I live in a trailer park down by the #$%&ing river! I used to only eat two meals a day on the reg, my clothes have to be bought cheaply at the bargain bin and I'm seen as a trailer hick!" She then harshly grabbed Neville's tie and yanked it up so that his terrified eyes could see it. "You see this!? This is the best piece of clothing that I own! A Goddamn school uniform! Do you know how shitty that makes me feel!? DO YAH!?" Neville fearfully shook his head in the negative. "PRETTY GODDAMN SHITTY!" She shoved him to the floor, leering over him like an angry bear.

"Now," she stated softly, venom oozing with every syllable. "Why am I bringing this up? How does this connect to the flying lessons?" Neville, shaking in terror answered timidly. "You, you, you want to escape from your life?" "Very good, Nev. Now, try to put yourself in the shoes of a girl that doesn't know about magic. How would she want to get far away?" "Fl-Fly?" he stammered. "EXACTLY!" she shouted. The two of them breathed for half a minute, Neville taking terrified, shallow breaths and Marie taking angry heaves. Marie then walked around Neville started ascending the stairs. She stopped on top of the landing. "Neville, I just don't want to deal with you right now." she said quietly. "So please, just leave me alone."

When Marie went down to the Great Hall an hour later, her mood hadn't really improved. She had tried to distract herself from her anger and her guilt by working on a still life of some of the lamps, discarded books and a few of the chairs in the common room, but she didn't like the designs of the chairs, the light that came through the windows and from the fireplace clashed horribly and there were too many students moving around to let her work, so she had abandoned it before she could start, resolving to work on it some other time. It was times like this that she wished she had a CD player. Listening to albums like _Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Ride the Lightning _and _Quedraphenia_ always helped to cheer her up and to focus on her coursework, but she didn't have anything to listen with and after reading _Hogwarts: A History_, she knew that buying an iPod or an MP3 player would be a waste of time. And she had no idea where to get vinyl.

She saw an open seat next to Ron, but noticed that Harry wasn't there for some reason. "Where's Harry?" she asked as she sat down and filled her plate with some grilled chicken kebabs and some chips. "Don't know," Ron mumbled as he sampled some steak and kidney pie. "Suspect he's still with Professor McGonagall." "Why's that? I know that he wasn't having that much trouble with Transfiguration homework." "It's not that." Ron stated warrily. "Something happened in flying class after you left. See, when Neville fell, his remembrall fell out of his pocket." Marie winced. "Well Malfoy saw and picked it up. Harry tried to get him to give it back, but Malfoy was, well." "Malfoy." "Yes. So he took off on his broom, saying that he'll put the remembrall up a tree. Harry took off after him and tried to get Malfoy to release the remembrall by charging him. Malfoy decided to chuck it and Harry took off after it." Ron eyes glazed over slightly. "And Harry is an amazing flyer. He was able to catch the ball after a fifteen meter dive on a school broom and come out of it unscratched." Ron then grimaced. "I since a 'but' in there Ron." Marie conveyed sternly. "But, McGonagall saw the whole thing and took Harry up to the castle. Haven't seen him since."

Marie glared down at her food, before idly nibbly on a chip. She was just about to think of ways to try to get back at Malfoy when he saw Harry walking down the aisle, looking surprisingly happy. "Harry!" Ron exclaimed in relieved surprise. "What happened after you left, our entire year was worried about you." Harry sat down and smirked. "Well, after we left McGonagall took me to the charms classroom and introduced me to Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. We had a bit of a talk and now I'm to new seeker for Gryffindor."

Marie didn't know what that meant, but Ron's eyes were bugging out of his head, a piece of steak hanging forgotten from his fork halfway to his mouth. "You're _joking_!" he exclaimed. "Seeker? But first years _never_-you must be the youngest player in about a -" "-century." Harry finished, shoving pie into his mouth as he did so. "Wood told me." Ron sat there, gaping in amazed disbelief. "I start training next week," Harry then looked around before whispering to them. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret." Marie nodded as Fred and George sat down next to Harry. "Well done," George uttered quietly. "Wood told us. We're on the team too, Beaters." "I tell you, we're going to win the Quidditch cup this year for sure," Fred declared. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us." "Anyway, we've got to go. Lee reckons he found a new secret passageway out of the school." "Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

No sooner had Fred and George left when the Malfoy showed up with his two giant shadows. "Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting a train back to the muggles?" he sneered arrogantly. "To answer those questions you insufferable twit, no he isn't and in June just like most of us. Do you seriously have nothing better to do than annoy us?" Marie asked irritably. Malfoy scowled. "Like I need to lower myself to interacting with filth like you." he spat. "You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you." Harry observed coolly. There was nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, as they were both sentient combinations of a love child of a gorilla and Jaws from _The Spy Who Loved Me_, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl. Marie was however rather happy that Goyle was looking at her warily. "Speaking of which, Goyle how's your hand doing?" she asked innocently. Goyle backed up slightly, eliciting an evil grin to spread across her face.

Malfoy must've noticed, because he look apocalyptic. "I'd take you on anytime on my own." Malfoy exclaimed snidely. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only-no contact." Harry looked at Malfoy both confused and apprehensive. "What's that matter?" Malfoy asked smuggly. "Never heard of a wizard's duel I suppose?" "Of course he has." Ron interjected rashly. "I'm his second, who'd yours?" Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up. "Crabbe. Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked." He then strode haughtily away.

Harry quickly turned to Ron in a slight panic. "What is a wizard's duel?" he asked. "And what do you mean, you're my second?" "Well, a second's there to take over if you die." Ron replied casually. "WHAT?!" Marie grabbed Ron by his collar and looked ready to throttle him, so he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most Harry and Malfoy will be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of them knows enough to do any real damage. I bet he expected him to refuse anyway." He laughed nervously as Marie's glare still bore into him. "You have a point." she admitted reluctantly as she let go of him. "But what if he waves his wand and nothing happens?" "Simple." he answered matter of factly. "He just throws it away and pushes Malfoy in the nose." Marie smirked, the image of Malfoy's nose shattering, bits of blood and cartilage spraying across the castle's stone floor making her feel warm and fuzzy inside. They were then interrupted.

"Excuse me." They all looked up and saw that they had been interrupted by Hermione. And she did not look happy. "Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" Ron muttered angrily. Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry. "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying-" "Bet you could." Ron stated. "-you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose for Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you." "And it's really none of your business." Harry responded curtly. "Good bye." Ron dismissively said.

All and all it wasn't the best way to end the day, Marie thought as she walked back from the library, a copy of _The British Wizard's Code Duello: Proper Etiquette and Guidelines for Disagreements and Duels by Joseph Cornrad_ under her arms as she headed back towards the common room. She hadn't seen Neville since she lashed out at him for accidentally breaking her collar bone (something she started to regret more and more with each passing minute) and had no idea where he was, and now her friend was doing something stupid. While she admitted that she had done stupid things in retribution for slights, even she wasn't stupid enough to challenge someone to a fight after dark. She had seen too many of those tragic results in Englewood to even consider doing it.

She entered the common room and saw the rest of the house mates loitering around the room (something she still hadn't quite gotten used to) and went over to Ron and Harry who were sitting on the couch in front of the fire. "Okay, this should tell us how a duel is conducted, since Harry and I don't know what it entails and you, Ron, probably need a refresher." Ron nodded reluctantly as Marie turned the pages, to the rules section.

_Step 1: The Challenge_

_When conducting a duel, one has to understand the severity of the disagreement. A minor dispute is not something that should be used to justify a duel, whereas a major attack on someone's honor or the honor of their family through either public humiliation or harm caused to loved one is something that is more justifiable. Despite this, it is possible for the duel to not happen at all. If a challenge is declared, more often than not it is to get the other party to back down. If the challenged party back downs after the challenge is declared, then no further action is necessary and the two parties can part amicably._

"Well we're not doing that." Harry remarked bitterly. "If I back down now, Malfoy's going to be crowing about it to the rest of the school by tomorrow morning. What's the next step?"

_Step 2: Acquiring a Second_

_If the challenge goes forward, than both sides need a Second. The Second is the most important aspect of preparing for a duel, as the Seconds help the dueling participants prepare for the duel as well as conduct negotiations between the two parties._

"God, can you imagine me negotiating with Crabbe? He probably wouldn't understand a word I'm saying." Ron commented.

_Step 3: Negotiations_

_At this point the duel can still be called off, as it is likely that the challenged accepted the challenge to save face with his peers or that the challenger's emotions were too intense to think through the implications. At this stage the Seconds can meet to peacefully resolve the disagreement in private, through either a retraction of a prior statement, the payment of some monetary compensation or through a public display of reconciliation that would be agreed upon between the two parties, much like a settlement in a court case. If, however, the disagreement is too severe for such a reconciliation or if neither side is willing to back down or agree to the terms, then the Seconds are to negotiate a time and place that the duel would take place, as well as the weapons that will be used. This is usually decided a few weeks in advance to allow the parties to settle their affairs if necessary._

"Well we've already done that, and you're not going to do much damage to each other anyway so we can skip this part." Marie stated as she turned the page.

_Step 4: The Treatment of the Medic_

_Should negotiations break down, then a doctor needs to be hired. Wounds and injuries are guaranteed to happen and proper medical treatment is needed to either restore the defeated party, treat the subject for curses or to heal them from either cutting charms or broken bones. The doctor must be paid by both sides in advance in case of death and must be treated with civility by both sides. Before the duel, the doctor will turn away from the duel so that he could have deniability in case this is brought up in court._

"We can't tell anybody else about this, so we'll skip this."

_Step 5: Choosing the Duel Site_

_Before the duel, both parties will travel to the site of the duel and determine where exactly the duel will take place. The site tends to be a flat location with few hills, so as not to give an unfair advantage, or at the top of a hill. The ground must be dry, so that no one slips when they're spinning around to fire at their opponent._

"Well, the trophy room counts as a dry location and neither of us will have the advantage, so we don't need to do that." Harry muttered.

_Step 6: Final Correspondence and Confession_

_Before the duel, both participants should leave a note for their kinsmen in case they fall during the duel, so that they don't need to commit any retaliation against the winning party. Both parties should also pray to the gods Hecate and Mecnivane for the power to beat their opponents and to the gods Pluto and Ankou that they are taken safely to the afterlife._

"Heh, retaliation. If Malfoy somehow kills me, I'm sure the Dursley's would send him a letter of thanks for doing them a favor." Marie and Ron looked at Harry with concern before turning back to the book.

_Step 7: Confrontation_

_On the day of the duel the two opponents are to meet, unarmed to face each other on the open field on the determined time. If one of the parties does not show up within a period of three hours after the alloted time, the other one is the winner by default. If neither party doesn't show, then the duel is cancelled and both parties our dishonored._

"Should help if Malfoy doesn't show. Show his true colors, that slimy snake." Ron remarked bitterly.

_Step 8: Final Negotiations_

_This is the last chance to resolve the dispute between the two parties. The Seconds will cross the field and give the final terms between the two sides. If the two sides agree to the terms, the two sides will shake hands and disperse amicably. If neither side backs down, then talks will cease and the duel will commence._

"Fat chance of that happening." Marie scoffed.

_Step 9: The Final Count_

_The opponents will take their decided weapons (usually wands or staves) and check to make sure they are in working order. Once decided, the two parties will face away from each other and count out a distance of ten paces to allow for a better margin of error._

_Step 10: Commencement_

_The duel begins and the two sides will continue it until one party is either first blood is drawn, one of the participants is unable to continue or one of the parties is dead._

"Okay, least we can claim victory if Malfoy is setting us up." "What, you think that Malfoy won't show up?" Ron asked. Marie turned to him. "I trust Malfoy as far as I can throw him, and it's pretty damn far. He won't show, and if he does then he's a bigger idiot than I thought." Harry and Ron pondered it, as if they had not considered the possibility till then. "We can't take the risk." Harry decided. "If Malfoy shows up and I don't, then I'll never hear the end of it from him. We're going." Marie put the book down and gazed at Harry. "You're being an idiot." "Maybe I am, but it's my decision."

Night came. The whole castle was shadowed in darkness, the barest sliver of the waxing moon visible between the gaps in the clouds. Marie had been laying up, waiting for the rest of her roommates to go to sleep. She had even dressed up in her sleep clothes in order to throw people off. She was nervous, her limbs were tense as if coiled into a spring and every sound uttered by her roommates, from Sally-Anne's quiet coo's to Pavarti's snores, were pounding in her head like a bass drum. She knew that this was a bad idea. No doubt they were likely to get caught by Filch, or worse Snape. But she knew that she had to go, if only to prevent them from doing something even more stupid.

Around 11:30 she got up and threw a robe over her body and put her wand in one of the pockets. She didn't trust Malfoy to not try something if he showed up to give himself an advantage. She crept down the spiral staircase and entered the common room. Ron and Harry came down the other staircase, garbed in their bathrobes and looking just as tense as she was. "Hey, I know this is out of the blue, but has Neville come back yet?" Harry and Ron looked at each other. "No, I thought he was still in the hospital wing." Ron answered. Marie's eyes widened. "Shit, that means that he's out somewhere in the hall. We got to go now before he's found."

The three of them were nearly at the portrait when a voice emerged from the darkness. "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry." A lamp flickered on, revealing Hermione in a pink bathrobe and with a stern frown on her face. Marie groaned. "Oh course you were up, you never did come back to bed." Harry glared at Hermione, before charging towards the portrait holes. "Come on," he gestured frustratingly, clearly hoping to leave unmolested. But Hermione wasn't one to be deterred and followed them through the portrait hole, hissing like an angry goose. "Don't you care about Gryffindor? Do you only care about you only care about yourselves!? _I_ don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells!" "Go away." Ron groaned in exasperation. "All right!" Hermione snapped. "But I warned you! You just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so-" But what they were, they never found out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty frame. The Fat Lady had gone on a night time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor Tower.

"Now what am I going to do?" Hermione asked shrilly. "That's your problem." Ron responded carelessly. "We've got to go, we're going to be late." They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione had caught up with them. "I'm coming with you." "You are not." Ron replied indignantly. "D'you think that I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all four of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up." "You've got some nerve-" Ron exclaimed loudly. "Shut up, both of you!" Harry said sharply. "I heard something." There was a sort of snuffling. "Mrs. Norris?" Ron breathed, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs. Norris, it was Neville. "Neville." Marie sprinted closer to him, waking him up once she reached him. "Neville, where the hell have you been? And why are you out here?" Neville looked at Marie timidly. "I went to the greenhouses to help out Professor Sprout with some plants and lost track of time. By the time I got back it was well after dinner and I couldn't remember the password. I've been out here for hours." Marie looked behind her and saw that the other three had caught up to them. "The password's 'Pig snout', but it won't help you right now. The Fat Lady's decided to go for an evening stroll and has gone off somewhere." "How's the arm?" Harry asked politely. "Fine," Neville replied, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey fixed it in about a minute." "Good." Harry checked his watch. "Well, look Neville, we've got to be somewhere. We'll see you later-" "Don't leave me!" Neville panicky interrupted. "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already!" Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville. "If either of you gets us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about and used it on you." Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed her silent and beckoned them forward into the night.

They flitted along the corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Marie expected them to run into Filch, Mrs. Norris or one of the other teachers, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed towards the trophy room. Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there. The crystal trophy cases glimmered in the torchlight. Cups, shields, plates and statues of gold, silver and bronze shone in the darkness. They edged along the wall, keeping their eyes on the doors on either side of the room. Harry took out his wand, ready in case Malfoy tries an ambush. The minutes crept by. Midnight came and went. Fifthteen minutes. Thirty minutes. Forty five minutes.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out." Ron whispered after an hour had gone by. Marie huffed. 'Looks like I was right. What a waste of time.' Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had barely raised his wand when they heard a voice that chilled them to the bone. "Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." It was Filch, speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved at the four of them to follow him as they quickly scurried through the opposite door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely disappeared round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter. "Probably hiding." "This way!" Harry mouthed to the others, and petrified, they followed as they crept along a long gallery filled with suits of armor. They heard Filch getting nearer and Neville, in a panic tried to run. But in the near pitch black darkness, he couldn't see where he was going and crashed into Ron, sending the two of them toppling into one of the suits of armor. The clanging and crashing of steel on stone seemed to wake up the whole castle as Harry, Hermione and Marie could only watch in frozen terror as the noise echoed throughout the near empty floor.

"RUN!" Harry shouted as he sprinted down the gallery. The other four quickly followed in a frantic sprint, none of them daring to look back to see if the living Crypt Keeper was following them. They swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor and then another, without any idea where they were and where they were going, just knowing that they wanted to put as much distance between them and Filch as was humanly possible. They hurtled out through a tapestry, down a hidden passageway and come out near the Charms classroom on the third floor.

"I think we lost him." Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was doubled over, looking like he was dry heaving. Ron was breathing heavily in aggravated gulps and Hermione looked like she was nearly suffered a collapsed lung. Only Marie was lightly panting, as she was used to running long distances for long periods of time. "I-told-you" Hermione gasped, holding a stitch in her side as she did so. "I-told-you." "We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower as quickly as possible." Ron conveyed, looking around the corridor to make sure no one was coming. Marie marched over to Harry, glaring at him the entire time. She then grabbed him by the collar and threw him against the wall. "I warned you. Malfoy was never going to show up. You knew it, I knew it and yet you still decided to come out here because of your goddamn pride." She let go, letting him fall to the floor. "The smiley rat must've told Filch that we would be there tonight. It was all a set up." She clenched her finger in the air, imagining that the area was Malfoy's neck. "Oh, when I get my heads on that little brat I'm going to…" What she was going to do he didn't say, as at that moment a door knob rattled and a small implike figure shoot out of the classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight. "Shut up Peeves-please-you'll get us thrown out." Harry pleaded. "Wandering around at one in the morning, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty." "Not if you don't even us away. Peeves, please." Harry begged desperately. "Should tell Filch, I should." Peeves mussed in a saintly voice, which was mostly ruined by his eyes glittering wickedly. Then Ron did something stupid. "Get out of the way." he snapped angrily and tried to punch him in the face, which Peeves easily dodged. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives down to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door-and it was locked.

"That's it!" Ron moaned as they pushed helplessly against the door. "We're down for! This is the end!" "Quiet being so melodrantic you ninny and push harder." Marie shouted as she rammed her shoulder into the door. "It's like they put a deadbolt on this thing." They heard Filch's foot steps, getting louder and louder as he got closer to Peeves's shouts. "Oh, move over." Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock and whispered, "Alohomora." The lock clicked and the door swung open. They piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against the door.

"Which way did they go Peeves?" Filch snarled. "Quick, tell me." "Say, please." "Don't mess with me Peeves. Which. Way. Did. They. Go?" "Shan't say nothing if you don't say please!" Peeves sang annoyingly. "All right-please?" "NOTHING! Hahahahaha!" He laughed mockingly. "Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Hahahahahaha!" They then heard Peeves woosh cheerfully away, Filch cursing fouly after him. "He thinks this door is locked." Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay-get off, Neville." Neville had been tugging on Harry's robe for about a minute. Marie was about to tell him to knock it off when she saw the terrified look on his face and that his eyes were constantly flicking behind him. Marie turned around and immediately wished she hadn't. They weren't in a room. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And she now knew why is was forbidden.

She wondered if this is how Orpheus felt when he first saw Cerberus as he entered the Underworld to reclaim his love Eurydice. That ceaseless terror that would cloud the mind and lock the body in place. Your brain would scream at your legs to run as far away as you can, but you are so consumed by fear that the body refuses to respond. Your mouth becomes dry as all it can emit is a silent scream, all noise is lost as all you can hear is the beating of your heart as it pounded throughout your head. Your bladder and bowls fill as you want to void yourself, but you're so tense that you're unable to release. All you can do and stare at your doom. How Orpheus got the courage to confront Cerberus she had no idea, cause she certainly would like some of that right now.

Somehow, someway, a cerberus existed. At a towering ten meters tall and with three heads each the size of a large weather balloon it filled the entire space. Their savage lemon yellow eyes salivated at them, their massive mouths glistened with yellow teeth the size of great swords. Dimly, Marie realized it was only because they had caught the cerberus by surprise that they weren't dead yet, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls ment.

Harry and Marie leaped for the door handle. Between Filch and death, they'd take Filch. They fell backward-Harry slammed the door shut and they ran. They flew back down the corridor, hardly caring where they went. They were lucky that they didn't encounter Filch as they tore through the castle as if the spawn of hell were on their fields, as they would've likely trambled him. They didn't stop running until they reached the Fat Lady's portrait on the seventh floor. "Where on earth have you been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes and flushed faces. "Never mind that. Pig snout, Pig snout." Harry panted desperately. The portrait opened up and they all scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling into the armchairs.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville looked as if he'd never speak again and Marie had to clench the armrests in order to keep her hands from shaking. "What do you think their doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron asked finally. "If there's a dog that needs exercise, that one does." Hermione had gotten both her breath and her temper back. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped "Didn't you see what it was standing on?" Marie goggled at her incredulously. "What it was standing on? I was more focused on the fact that my nightmares have come to life! Why should I focus on the floor it was standing on?!" "It wasn't just standing on the floor. It was standing on a trap door. It's obviously guarding something." she replied haughtily. She stood up, glaring at them all. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could have gotten all killed-or worse, expelled." Everyone looked at her dumbfounded. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Ron watched her go, his mouth agape. "No, we don't mind." He then turned to the others. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?" He said, annoyance oozing from his mouth. Marie rubbed her temples, still in disbelief that Hermione would say something so stupid. "She really needs to sort out her priorities." She looked up and saw that Neville looked like his was about to pass out as the full weight of what had happened started to crash down on him. "Hey guys, why don't you go up to bed. I'm going to stay here with Neville for a bit." Ron and Harry nodded and left. Marie went over to Neville. He looked at her, fearfully. Marie nervously opened up her arms, unsure if he'll respond. Neville, tears trickling from his eyes, leaped from the chair and grabbed her in a vice. He clung to her like a life line as he sobbed into her shoulders while Marie felt this strange feeling, and she couldn't tell if it was relief, or remorse.

** Sorry about the wait, my internet modem needed to be replaced and I had to send out quite a few resumes now that the Christmas season is over. I hope you like the ending, I've been turning it around in my head for a week. I originally intended to have it be a longer scene, about two to three pages in length, but when I got to it, I just decided that the emotions were too raw for it to work and decided to go with a shorter and more silent ending. Next chapter is back to the cul-de-sac and then I'm going to do both the Hogwarts chapter and the omake in one go, just to see how an idea works before following it with just another Hogwarts chapter and then a separate second omake to see if that style works better. I hope to see you soon and hopefully I get a new job before spring.**


	14. Wake Me Up When September Ends

** Not much of an opener today, I just want to jump into the story. I do not own Harry Potter or Ed, Edd & Eddy. They are owned by J.K. Rowling, At&T and Warner Media.**

**Wake Me Up When September Ends**

She wasn't used to the quiet. Normally she would be spending her time right now with one of her siblings or be in detention with them, but ever since Marie left things have been rather boring lately. Oh she still chased the Ed's on the weekends, even her new arrangement with Double-D hasn't changed that and there was a sort of serenity to just being at home and being able to watch what she wanted to watch on tv or read one of her mother's cookbooks but the silence had started to wear on her. She was laying on the couch, the silent buzz of reruns of _Golden Girls _playing on the TV behind her.

Lee's month long of detention had been extended. A derisive comment by some boy had resulted in another hospitalization and Lee was given detention everyday for the rest of the semester. She was also given a two week long in-school suspension on top of it and was prescribed weekly visits with the school counselor to deal with her anger issues. May snorted. 'They'd need to have her have daily meetings with a professional psychiatrist if they want even a hope of helping her control her temper.' She sat up and grabbed a tennis ball from her backpack, which she had left on the floor. She started tossing it into the air, catching it each time before it hit the ground.

'Wonder what Double-D's up to today? I think I heard Eddy say something about going to the junkyard after getting some screws from the hardware store.' It was strange being able to talk to one of the Ed's. While she was disappointed that it wasn't her Big Ed, it was still a marked improvement over what her relationship with them was a month ago. She had had four meetings with Double-D since their talk on the playground and she was shocked to find out how enjoyable it was. She wouldn't call him her friend yet, there was still too much distrust between them in order for that to happen, but she was glad that he was no longer her enemy.

'I should probably get this homework done. Lee isn't going to be home for at least another hour.' May dragged her backpack over to the kitchen table and opened up her books. She opened up her math textbook and started to struggle through seventh grade math. While she wasn't as smart as Marie, she was nearly a year younger than her and two years younger than Lee. As such in order to stay in the same year she had to stay on top of the class standings in order to advance a year so that they were in the same grade (Lee was born in October, so she had to be held back a year). But she didn't study very well, and as a student she was above average at best. Taking that test that placed gave her an exact 85% and put her in the 7th grade math curriculum was in her mind one of the worst things that happened to her, as she just couldn't get a handle on multiplying and dividing negative numbers. Vocab and grammar were also a struggle, as the letters continued to float off the page and arrange themselves into words that made no sense, and her understanding of perfect and imperfect tenses clashed with present and future tenses. The fact that she was having the same struggles in Italian just made everything stressful whenever she worked.

'What is 7 divided by -11? Great.' She pulled out her calculator. 'Freakin' decimals.' She typed in the number and wrote down '-0.63 repeated.' She sighed and laid her head on her arms. 'I wish Marie was here. She would've been able to get through these in a mature of minutes.' She looked over to the front door and stared at it for five minutes. 'I should see if Double-D is willing to tutor me. Hopefully he accepts.' She got up and when over to the cordless phone. She was just about to dial when she heard a tapping at the window.

She looked up and saw a familiar Great Gray Owl scratching at the latch with his talon. She opened the window and let the owl squeeze into the kitchen and land on the table. She reached over to him and started to stroke his plumage. "You must've flown a long way in order to get here." She then noticed that in his beak was a large envelope. She grabbed it and looked at the front. _May_. She recognized the handwriting, she had had Marie correct her study guides enough to know what Marie's stiff and blocky script looked like. The owl clicked it's beak irritably. "Oh right, let me get you some water." She filled a bowl with water from the sink and gave it to the owl, who hooted grately before taking several deep gulps. May then grabbed the envelope again and opened it with shaking hands.

_Dear May,_

_I...uh...God I'm not used to this. I, well, I know you're probably wondering why I'm writing to you first and not to our mother or to all of you. Well, I just don't feel like I'm ready to write to her. I want to give myself more time to settle in before I send something to her. There's also this...problem that I need to bring up with her that I'm going to need some time to phrase properly. As for writing a letter to Lee, to be honest I don't think that I can talk about what I'm going to talk about with her. She just has this, stubborn belligerence shall we say, that would just make her angry and I don't want to deal with that right now when I'm already swamped with work and when I'm trying to deal with a few assholes that seem to just exist to try to piss me off. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Also, I feel that you're the best person I can talk to right now. I don't think I need to tell you why that is._

_ London was nice. I wasn't able to see much of it, but from what I saw it was alright. I spent most of my time at an inn called 'The Leaky Cauldron'. I know, sounds appetising, but the food there is actually pretty good. The bartender looks like Igor's bald cousin, he was pretty nice though, never looked down on me and actually treated me like a human being so that was pretty good. You'd probably like him._

_ I won't bore you with details about the wizard shopping district, I wouldn't be able to properly describe it without making this letter at least ten pages long. There is just so much to say about it that I feel that the only way to understand where I'm coming from is to actually show you. Yes, everything was that amazing. I even made an...acquaintance? A friend? I'm not really sure where I stand with her, not only because she has a level of stoicism and emotionlessness that would get Data a run for his money, but I also feel like I'm this curiosity to her, a specimen that she wants to study more than a person she wants to know. I don't even know why I enjoy seeing her, I just do. Have you ever felt that way? That you couldn't explain why you like something, it just is? Cause that's how I feel with her. Not that she doesn't have her qualities, she's intelligent, has a decent sense of humor and has a strong attitude, but she has the emotional range of a teaspoon and is always evaluating me! And then there's the way she looks. The platinum-blonde hair, icy blue eyes and her pale white skin just screams artificial. If it weren't for the fact that she could show some emotions, I would've thought that she was an android. Anyway, her name is Daphne Greengrass, and she's the heir to this wealthy noble wizard family (maybe that explains why she can't smile) and we only see each other sparingly from time to time. She was placed in a different dorm than I was and has a different schedule so I don't see her often._

_ Oh yeah, apparently when we get to school we are sorted into different houses based on our personality (I know, it's stupid) via a sentient hat that can read your god damn mind. I was placed in Gryffindor, the house of the brave and the bold, along with ten others, five girls and five boys. The girls...vary. Sally-Anne Peakes is more timid than that brace wearing boy that negotiated with us to kidnap the Ed's that one time. I dare say that she would prefer to have lived her whole life as a mute. I've been trying to reach out to her, but so far it has been slow going (I know, a Kanker trying to be nice to people and trying to put them at ease. Something must be wrong with the world if that's happening). Eliza Runcorn is very, very posh. Not arrogant, but extremely wealthy. I don't talk to her much outside of classes, but she's alright. It was rather funny watching her struggle to fold her clothes, though it did get kinda sad when she revealed that she didn't know what a laundry room is. Pavarti Patil and Lavender Brown are a bunch of conceited bitches that I hate. I don't want to talk about them and I'm currently planning a prank on them where I replace their shampoo with mayonnaise. I have some people on that getting the supplies. As for Hermione, I'll talk about her later, she's involved in something going on around here and I don't want to focus on that in bits and pieces. Either way, my living situation is fine, actually pretty good really. I have my own bed, so that's nice._

_ The boys are nice (No, not like that. I'm too young for that shit), if a little immature. Dean is an artist like me, though he's more of a traditionalist that I am. Really likes Baroque and Impressionist. He's also comes from a non magic family, so we have that in common as well. Seamus might be an arsonist in the making, and if not that than he causes a lot of explosions by accident. Very Irish, I'm thinking of getting him either a six pack of Guinness of a six pack of Smithecks for his birthday. The other three were also involved in what's going on as well so they come later. Just know that I like all three of them. Not sure if I like them enough to be friends though, give me a little time before I come to a decision on that._

_ The teachers are mostly good, but I have grips on three of them. The most inoffensive is Professor Binns, the History of Magic Professor. He is a ghost. That is literally the only interesting thing about him. He is as emotional as a rock and as informative as a Wikipedia page after a troll edited it. Everyone just spends the class sleeping because his voice is like auditory Prozac. If I wasn't convinced that he was just ignorant of what's going on around him, I would say that he loves the sound of his own damn voice. Why though? He sounds like a disconnected phone. But at least I can understand him, unlike Professor Quirrell, my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He's is a wuss. Everything he says is done in a terrified stutter that makes me want to punch him in the face. I can't understand anything he's saying in his class and I'm sick of smelling freaking garlic all the time! I thought I'd be learning about how to fight monsters, not finding the limits of my patience! Speaking of patience!_

May winced as she turned the page and saw that the following page, back and front, was filled with a curse filled rant about how much she hated her potions professor, some unpleasant jerkwad name Snape. She saw that the rant continued on the next page as well. 'Jeez, this is like the time I read her diary entry and saw her curse filled essay on Nazz after the end of the year dance.' She saw that the first two paragraphs were about his hair and his nose. 'Nope, it's worse.' She scanned the next three pages and saw they were about the guy. 'Let's see, guy looks like an overhanged bat, bullies kids for no reason, voice that sounds like Hans Gruber, okay. What else, oh.' May covered her mouth as she snorted into her hands. "God Marie," she chuckled. "You always were the one that came up with the more creative pranks." She wiped a tear from her eye before turning back to the letter, which had finally stopped yammering on about Snape.

_Sorry, I just needed to vent there. Other than that, things are alright. Food's good, even if it lacks variety, and the place is very interesting to walk around (even if it's just for the moving staircases that always seem to dump me on the wrong side of the first floor) and there are so many paintings that are enjoyable to look at (just wish the occupants would stop leaving the frame!). _

_ However, it's not safe. At the end of the start of term feast, the headmaster Professor Dumbledore told us that the corridor on the right side of the third floor was out of bounds, for all those, and I quote, 'not desiring some painful death.' I've recently learned why that is. It started innocently enough when two of my classmates, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, got into a pissing contest with some asshole named Draco Malfoy (no, I don't know which of his parents hated him enough to name him 'Draco') that ended up with them involved in a duel that was to take place at midnight. I went with them because someone needed to watch out for them and Hermione and Neville had to go with us because they were locked out of Gryffindor tower (Why? Because our entrance is a sentient portrait that regularly leaves in order to get drunk. Don't ask me how they can do that.). So we ended up at the trophy room, where the duel was to take place. Surprise, surprise, Malfoy had actually planned to get us in trouble for being outside after curfew and had sold us out to the school caretaker, Filch._

_ Now I knew something like this was bound to happen and I told both Ron and Harry this before they left but Harry, well I can understand why he did it. He's come from a bad home, he was always bullied in school and he felt the need to stand up to another bully now that he had friends that would actually support him. I agree with the motive, but I don't agree with the method. Malfoy is a smarmy, egotistical, arrogant, and more than anything, cowardly. He is just the kind of person you want to punch in the face when you wake up in the morning and kick in the balls at night before you go to bed. There was no way that he would actually honor a duel that would cause him to dirty his hands. But no, Harry didn't want to lose face in front of Malfoy. Uh, boys can be so stupid._

_ So Filch chases after us throughout the castle and we eventually and unknowingly ended up on the third floor by the forbidden corridor. Desperate for a place to hide, we unlock a door at the end of the hall and slipped through before he saw us. He left in a different direction and all was well. That's when we saw the giant three headed dog. Yes, Cerburus exists and apparently he had children. Naturally we tore out of there before he could eat us._

_ Now, I was too busy staring at his heads to pay attention, but Hermione noticed that the dog was standing on a trap door. She said that he was guarding something, what I don't know. At first, I didn't pay attention to her because she's bossy, a know-it-all, has an annoying voice and she believes that getting expelled for being found out of bounds is worse than getting killed_ (May had to blink at that. 'Seriously, not even Double-D likes school that much.')_,_ _but Harry told was. The next morning he told Ron and I about his first trip to Diagon Alley (the wizard shopping district in London) and to Gringotts (the wizard bank) with Hagrid, the school groundskeeper. Harry's an orphan that knew nothing about the wizarding world (his parents were murdered when he was young and his relatives wanted nothing to do with him), so Hagrid was assigned the task of helping him integrate. During the trip to the bank, Hagrid emptied out a vault that he'd been told to empty by the headmaster. It wasn't much, according to Harry, just a small package two inches big, but someone wanted it. Enough to break into the bank and try to steal from the goblins (oh, did I forget to mention, we have goblins. And they control all of our money. I don't know how to feel about this.). They weren't caught, so whoever wants it is still out there. Harry mentioned to Ron and I that Hagrid had told him that there was no place safer for protecting something than Gringotts, ''cept perhaps Hogwarts.' Considering that dog, I'm inclined to believe him._

_ That's the main reason I'm writing this. After my near brush with death, I felt that I couldn't hold on to most of my anger (not all of it. Lee is still a complete and utter ass for how she's been acting before I left) and I should be more forgiving. I know that you realized that your behavior was unwarranted but you don't need to apologize. You're ten, I would be surprised if you didn't have some irrational fear of what's going on. I'll try to write more, but don't expect a lot of owls, they take too long to cross the atlantic most of the time anyway (I think that this thing is two weeks late. I sent this out in the middle of September.) _(May looked at the calender and saw the date. October 2nd, 2007.)_, but I'll try to send an owl every other week to let you know how I am. _

The rest of the letter was spent discussing her friends, from Harry's determination and selflessness to Ron's brilliance at chess and very little else. She wrote about an incident she had had with her best friend Neville that had resulted in a broken clavicle and how the incident with the cerberus had allowed them to reconcile (she was both jealous that Marie was learning how to fly and slightly bitter. 'Marie is my best friend.') and she complained about having to deal with an uptight mini adult in the form of Hermione Granger. She talked about her other classes and her other teachers, the food and the castle grounds before she reached her conclusion.

_In spite of all of this, I miss you. I miss all of you. Maybe it's because the allure has worn off a little, maybe it's because 'distance makes the heart grow fonder' might actually be a real phenomenon. But I can't help but feel that there some aspect of home that I miss. There's no music to listen to here. The only thing that will play anything here is a steroephone and nobody here has vinyl. Ipods don't work due to the magic of the wards being too powerful and I miss tv. Is Dexter still good? Has Cartoon Network let us back on the air or are they still focusing on that Johnny Test shit? Or are there other things that are actually good on right now? And when is that writer going to stop playing Dragon Age and start to actually focus on writing this story, I mean come on, this isn't spending six months to write his fifteen page thesis paper, this is actually something that he can enjoy doing. No wonder he's always late._

_ Sorry, lost my train of thought. Anyway, because the school is up in the Scottish highlands, there's just a bunch of pine trees. I miss the fall. Remember when we would jump in those leaf piles along the banks of the creek? When the sun would catch the warm patterns of red, gold and orange and the smell of cider from Rolf's distillery would waff over the cool breeze as we plotted to steal a keg. There's nothing like that here. It's alright now, but I know that it will be cold and dreary soon. It's getting darker later and later as well, and staying darker for longer. I wouldn't be surprised if school started before the sun was in the sky and ended long after it went down once winter comes. The cold water off the North Sea comes in from the Black Lake every day, which makes it difficult to stay out long. I'm trying to send you some paintings of the place at different times of the year so you can see what it's like, so I apologize in advance if they aren't very good. _

_ I hope things are going well for you back home. MAKE SURE THAT MY OVENMITT DOESN'T FORGET ABOUT ME OR I WILL WRING YOUR NECK!_

_ Sincerely, Marie_

May folded up the letter and placed it down on the table. She contemplated what to do with it. She couldn't keep it here, Lee would throw a fit if she saw it and Mom would likely fall into a deep depression if she saw it. Still, she didn't want to destroy it. She sat down, her hand clasping her closed eyes. A thought came to her like a slimy and strong thendral from the shadowy depths, grasping hard to her brain and refusing to let go. She quickly tore a page from her note book, wrote a quick note in case Lee came home and set off, the letter tucked under her armpit.

'She's right, it is pretty good out here.' As it was early October the trees had yet to start turning color completely, but the cool breeze from the shores of Lake Superior were giving a nice chill to the afternoon air. The temperature was in the low sixties, giving a nice chill, but May had been able to wear her standard grey shirt and red shorts in even colder weather than this. As she walked through the woods that lead to the back lane, she took the time to enjoy the light rustling of the leaves as the wind darted between them and the piercing glow of the late afternoon sun shining down onto the forest floor that crunched below her feet. The smell of cider hadn't yet came to the air, as Rolf wouldn't make the cider for another two weeks, but the crisp air still had this palpable energy to it, the kind that invigorates you as you walk through the countryside or down a bustling street of a small city. It makes you feel alive, it makes you feel like no matter what, nothing will ruin your day.

May walked down the dirt alley, making sure to avoid the ever present puddles that never seemed to disappear, even after many sunny days. She looked around cautiously. She knew she wasn't welcome in the neighborhood, but that wasn't the main reason she was making sure she wasn't seen going to her destination. She observed the Cul-de-Sac, quickly discarding just crossing the street. Kevin was busy running post routes with Rolf, as both had made the junior varsity team, and Nazz was practicing some cheering moves nearby. Jimmy and Sarah were having a tea party in front of Sarah's garage and Johnny, well she didn't know what Johnny was doing. It looked like he was having a staring contest with that piece of wood he carried everywhere, but for all she knew he could've had a stroke and nobody would've noticed. She crept around the houses, carefully darting between and the bushes as quickly as she could go. She had to pause for a motion outside of Eddy's house as he flitted across his bedroom, dancing to some music in white, skin tight John Travolta suit. As she passed his window, she caught the horror that he was listening to.

'Seriously? This guy listens to _Disco Duck?_ Lee, what the hell do you see in this guy?' Shaking her head in disgust, she quickly moved around the Cul-de-Sac. At last, she reached her destination and slightly slid to the back door. She knock once, then three times more. No one responded and not wanting the kids in the street to hear her, so opened the thankfully unlocked door and slipped inside. She silently closed the back door. "Hello? Double-D, are you here?" She called as she wandered through his kitchen, making sure that she was unable to be seen through the giant window of Double-D's living room. She heard a small yelp come from the upper floor, followed by a frantic scramble down the stairs before Double-D stumbled into the kitchen, his hands covered in blue pencil chalk.

"May, what are you doing here? Don't you know it's impolite to invade another person's denison's without permission?" he chastised. May rolled her eyes. "I knocked on the door, it's not my fault you didn't hear it." she replied as she sat down and threw her feet on top of the kitchen table. Double-D grimaced at the bits of mud that fell onto the table. "As much as that is an explanation to why you're in here and that it is my fault for not hearing your knocks, that still doesn't explain why you're here." May removed the letter from under her arm and tossed the envelope on the table. "I need you to hide this." Double-D, curious, picked up the envelope and scanned the front. "A letter?" "Yes, I need you to hide this for a bit. Marie doesn't want anyone to know about this letter and I figured the best place to hide it is with the person least likely to care about what's in it." Double-D quirked his eyebrow. "Fair point, but do you really intend to sneak into my house everytime you need to hide a letter?" "Like I said." May explained as she took the envelope and started up the stairs. "This is only temporary. As soon as Marie gives me the go ahead or as soon as she actually writes a letter to Mom or Lee, I'll show it to Mom." She emerged onto the landing, Double-D hurrying after her. "Now, where can I hide this without anybody finding it?" Double-D thought carefully, weighing the pros and cons of something important judging by his conflicted face, before gesturing toward a door on the far left of the hall.

"We can hide it in here." He opened up the door to reveal a large room with two twin sized beds with scarlet red bed sheets and painted lavender walls. The floor was chestnut wood with two rugs on it, a rectangular cream orange one between the beds and a patchwork blue elliptical rug in front of the beds. "The guest room? Wouldn't my Big Ed or Eddy be able to find it by accident?" Double-D eyes grew down cast and a dark cloud hung over him. "This isn't the guest room." He answered sorrowfully. May winced. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…" Double-D stopped her by raising his hand. "It's fine, you didn't know." He led her over to a large dark brown armour. "This is my father's junk drawer." he said as he opened up the top left drawer and showed a bunch of disconnected chips, mother boards and wires. "He isn't home much as he works abroad most of the time, but he likes to take apart broken machines and collect the parts that still work. I tend to take these for some of my creations for Eddy's scams." He then takes the envelope and hides it under a pile of LCD bulbs and converters.

"There, will there be more in the future?" "Most likely. Marie may not look like it, but she can hold a grudge like no other. She still hates that blonde you danced with." Double-D looked shocked. "Why, it's been five months since the school dance." May shrugged. "Runs in the family I guess. I know that Marie's grandparents disowned her father over differing political opinions and never forgave him. Wouldn't be surprised if they didn't forgive him even on their deathbeds." The two of them left the room.

"Are you interested in getting something to drink? I don't like to seem like I am disrespectful host." Double-D asked as they walked down the stairs. "No thanks, I need to leave before Lee gets home. She's been really grumpy the last few days." She stopped at the bottom and whispered conspicuously into his ear. "I think the detentions are starting to get to her." The two moved back into the kitchen. "Besides, I need to get back to working on my homework. If I don't finish my math equations by this evening I'll never be able to do that essay about _When Will Come Soft Rains_ before tomorrow." She reached for the handle. "Are you having trouble with it?" Double-D asked politely. "Yeah. Marie used to help me with math. She could do the equations in her head in five seconds, all without having to write it down." She sighed, her hand grasped around the handle. "She used to help me with my homework all the time. Didn't matter how difficult or simple it was, she just did it, sometimes without me asking. She would just see me struggling and she'd just barge in and grab the book and show what I was doing wrong. Heh, used to annoy me all the time. Now that she's gone, I've been struggling to get through most of it." Double-D was intrigued. "Why's that?" May blushed as she opened the door. "I have problems reading. I actually didn't learn to read until I was six and I still struggle to read today. The letters just, don't make sense. And when I try to read it out loud, I keep mispronouncing simple words wrong." A tear rolled down her face. "Lee used to pick on me all the time for that until Mom stopped her."

Double-D looked at her with sympathy. "May, I think you have dyslexia." At her questioning look, he clarified. "It's a reading disorder where a person finds it difficult to identify pronunciation patterns and spelling. Let me ask you, have letters seemed to reverse themselves or words appeared backwards?" May's deer in the headlights look confirmed his suspicions. "How about this? You need help with your homework because of your disability and you need a way to transport letters when they arrive for the foreseeable future. Therefore, I would like to offer my services as a tutor for the next, oh three or so years. We can discuss extensions if you wish at any time in the future." May was so astonished by his selflessness that she could only nod dumbly. "Excellent, I'll see you on Monday," Double-D said as he lightly shoved her out the door. He then turned around and headed back inside. "Oh," he turned around as he grasped the door to close it. "Do try not to cause any problems if Ed or Eddy comes over. I'll try to placate them by saying that the principal assigned me to tutor you, but if you try to captivate Ed with your...misguided attempts of flirting, I will have to ask you to wait till evening for our sessions. Good day." He then slammed the door, leaving both a confused and conflicted Kanker staring at the barrier that Double-D had unwittingly erected.


	15. Hallowe'en

**Alright, here is the chapter and omake experiment I've been talking about. Now before I get into this I want to talk about something. You probably noticed that whenever I posted a chapter and gave a disclaimer followed by the proper ownership, I've listed them as being properties of J.K. Rowling, Warner Media and AT&T. Now the first two are reasonable, J.K. Rowling own the rights to the characters and story of **_**Harry Potter**_** because she is the author and creator of the series. Warner Media is a media conglomerate that owns not minor companies like HBO, but also Warner Brothers Entertainment, which owns not just the films rights to the **_**Harry Potter**_** series, but also Cartoon Network, which owns Hanna Barbara and thus**_** Ed, Edd & Eddy**_**. But there are two things that you're wondering. The first is why is AT&T, a phone company, is involved in the ownership. Well that's because in 2018 AT&T bought the formerly independent TimeWarner company and all its concidearies for 85 billion dollars, before then changing the name to Warner Media. As for the second question, why am I not naming Danny Antonucci as having rights to the characters, story and overall design of **_**Ed, Edd & Eddy**_**, despite being the creator, executive producer, director and one of the primary writers of the show, for being the owner of the show. Well, unfortunately, that's because he isn't. See, in the world of animation, producing a show is expensive. Character design, storyboarding, primary animation, designing the in betweens, outlines, rough drafting, writing plots and scripts, voice acting, coloring, filming and editing can take months and cost millions of dollars, even if the show lasts for only one season. For a quick example, a single episode of **_**Family Guy**_** takes six months to make. And that's with digital programs such as CG animation, adobe flash, digital coloring, and Toonboom. Now, imagine how much it would cost to create a mainly cell animated show for four seasons, followed by one season of digital 2D animation, followed by a TV special and then a film length movie. Yeah no, if you want your show to be produced, you need to hand over the rights to the show to the distributor, in this case Warner Bros. Television Distribution. This is common and it is one of many reasons shows continue even after the original creator is booted off the production team, or how a show the original creator wants to expand upon doesn't happen ( Rest in Peace, **_**Galactic Kids Next Door**_**). So yeah, Danny Antonucci doesn't own **_**Ed, Edd & Eddy**_** because of the BS of the animation system, to the point where he has to ask Cartoon Network permission to create something with his characters in it, whether it be a children's book or a single art piece. So, I don't own **_**Harry Potter **_**or **_**Ed, Edd & Eddy**_**. They are owned by the people and corporations listed above and lets get to the story and get off this depressing note.**

**Hallowe'en**

Well it's a marvelous night for a moon dance with the stars up above in the sky. A fantabulous night to make romance 'neath the colors of October skies.

Marie sung softly as she walked down the corridors towards her Hallowe'en Charms class. The smell of baked pumpkin and squash hovered over every room and every hallway, something confirmed at breakfast when a barrage of pumpkin spiced pancakes, pumpkin lattes and butternut squash soup. It was just one of the amazing things that have warmed her up to Hogwarts over the last few months. While she still hated a few of the teachers and the moving staircases and the artist of her mind was still annoyed by all of the moving portraits and photos, most of the rest of the school had this wondrous charm. From the old Anglo-Saxon architecture in the older parts of the castle to the more ornate high gothic towers and pointed arches that formed the wings of the castle to the Romanesque Great and entrance halls. The classes were starting to get more interesting now that they had started to master the basics of spellcraft and no further incidents had emerged from her classes (other than the time she used a series of soft '_Diffindo's_**'** to cause Malfoy's stool to collapse underneath him. It resulted in him accidentally grabbing his cauldron and covering himself in an unfinished nutritional supplement that caused him to go to the hospital wing in order to get treatment for some tumors that were growing on his eyeballs. The twenty lost points and the detention she spent scrapping old gum from the bottom of every students desk in the castle was more than worth it).

It almost made her forget the giant dog that was this close from breaking out of the third floor corridor and killing them all. But she couldn't, as Ron and Harry would continuously discuss what on earth the dog was guarding. After Harry had told them about the trip he took with Hagrid to Gringotts and the package he extracted. Ron, being more knowledgeable with magical items and Harry, who was more curious about what was in that package than she ever was, surmised that it was some magical object of dangerous power or extreme value. But since the most they knew about it was that it was about 5 centimeters long and wide, Marie quickly got bored of the round about conversations that went nowhere and focused more on the small mountain of school work that she needed to complete for McGonagall than whatever that dog is protecting (though she did slap both of her friends upside the head when they suggested going back).

The only benefit that she got from the mad excursion was that she was able to repair the small fissure that had opened up between her and Neville before it could manifest. Agreeing with him about that seeing the cerberus again was insane helped to cement it. Since then they would spend a bit of time alone together along the shores of the Black Lake, Neville reading books about Herbology while Marie would work on her painting series of the Hogwarts castle as the days passed. Recently he had started to provide her safer magical plants to use in some of her still lives when she got bored of castle drawings and wanted to do something else in her free time (or raining or very windy). There wasn't much that they needed said between them, the relaxing silence as they worked was enough.

Her relationship with Hermione on the other hand had soured immensely. Harry and Ron were able to ignore her, as much as she ignored them, due to having different interests and attitudes to live and school and by living in a separate dorm. Marie however didn't. While Hermione mostly ignored her, there were times that she would spot Hermione glaring at her when they were either changing clothes for the day, or when they were in the library working on some assignment. Why she didn't know, as she knew that Hermione knew that she didn't want to go outside in the middle of the night. In fact, after the middle of term grades were posted last week, her attitude towards her in general had gotten worse as while Hermione was the number one student in the year, she was number two. Since then Hermione had been trying to answer as many questions as she could and has been obsessively informative on her essays, to the point that both Professor McGonagall and Professor Sinistra had had to talk to her about breaking the essay requirements by writing too much, causing her to get lower grades than Marie's shorter yet still well written and informative essays. Naturally, Hermione got even worse. She got snippy with her other classmates about their work, and had taken to working on the opposite side of the common room or the library whenever Marie was there. It was only a matter of time before Hermione stopped being passive aggressive.

She arrived at the class and joined Ron and Harry at one of the tables. Even though it had been nearly two months, she still marveled at how quickly she had become friends with the two, but she has decided to just roll with it and to not worry. It wasn't the oddest thing that has happened to her in her life (the time that Ed had somehow gotten hers and her sisters heads in a quart sized measuring cup for an hour still topped that). Flitwick was shuffling some papers as he prepared his itinerary. He was smiling, barely suppressing his excited glee. He always enjoyed this time of year, as the excited gleams in his first year students eyes gazed up at him. "Good afternoon. We have done enough proper study of wand theory and all of you have learned Diffindo and Lumos. I think you're all ready to learn how to make objects fly." His smile grew behind his bushy brown mustache as the excited buzz grew in volume throughout the class. They had been looking forward to learning the levitation spell since the beginning of term when Flitwick had flown Neville's toad around the room.

"Now, I don't expect you to learn this spell right away. As such, I will be splitting you into pairs so that you can give each other constructive criticism and to aid those struggling with the spell." He took out a roll of parchment and unrolled it, his silver grey eyes piercing down through his square eyeglasses. "Right, Mr. Corner will be paired with Miss Runcorn, Mr. Potter will be paired with Mr. Finnigan, Mr. Thomas with Mr. Boot, Miss Brown with Miss Brocklehurst (Marie shoved her fist into her mouth as she started to giggle again), Mr. Cornfoot with Miss Turpin, Miss Parvarti Patil with Mr. Goldstein, Mr. Rivers with Miss Li, Miss MacDougal with Miss Padma Patil and Mr. Weasley with Miss Granger." He then put down the parchment and looked over to Marie. "Miss Kanker, due to the old number of children in this class, I'm going to put you in a group with Miss Peakes and Mr. Longbottom. I hope that's okay with you." Marie shrugged non schlantly as she grabbed her backpack and went over to the relieved looking Neville and the ash white Sally-Anne.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest." The class then started to mutter "_Wingardium Leviosa_" at varying levels of frustration, desperation and apathy. Neville squecked the words in a barely restrained panic, waiting for something to go wrong with his attempts, while Sally-Anne whispered the words in her demure and quiet breathy voice. Marie however was staring at her feather, puzzling over how she was going to get it to float. 'Okay, from what I can tell the levitation spell is supposed to counteract gravity's effect on the object. That probably means there's supposed to be some kind of lift underneath the feather that's stronger than gravity, otherwise the feather would constantly drift downward.' She withdrew her wand. "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Focusing all of her thoughts to providing a cushion under the feather, she slowly but surely levitated the feather higher and higher. As the feather rose, she found that she needed to focus on the feather less and less until she was able to keep it at a steady height 15 meters above the class.

"Well done!" Mr. Flitwick exclaimed. "Look everybody, Miss Kanker and Miss Granger have done it." Marie looked around the ceiling and saw that another feather had joined hers up in the air two meters below. She looked to her left and saw Hermione glaring hatefully at her, her right hand clenched around her wand that was pointed directly at the ceiling. Ron was glowering at a piece of wall in a furious temper. She then looked to her right and saw that Harry's hat and desk was covered in ash and Seamus's eyebrows had been singed, the smell of burnt feather hair and smoke laying gently in the air. "In fact Miss Kanker, I think that's the highest anybody has been able to do it on their first try. How were you able to accomplish it?" Marie looked at Hermione, smirked and responded. "Physics Professor. Just a simple understanding of physics."

"Physics? How does that relate to learning how to perform _Wingardium Leviosa_?" It was after class and Harry, Ron and Marie were walking down the corridor towards History of Magic. The rest of Charms had gone well, with both Harry and Sally-Anne managing to perform the spell by the end of class, along with half of the others. Ron was not one of them and was now hounding Marie for answers. "It all has to do with Isaac Newton's first law of motion. Every object in a state of uniform motion will remain in a state of motion unless an external force acts on it. All I had to do was put enough force underneath the feather to counteract the effect gravity was having on it while remembering the wand movements and the pronunciation. It was easy after that." "And how much force does gravity exert?" Ron asked frustratingly. "About 9.8 meter per second per second. Luckily for us a feather is rather light. It would take a lot more effort and concentration to do that to a table or a human being."

Marie looked over at Ron. "By the way, why were you sulking earlier? It didn't have to do with what I did, did it?" Ron huffed. "No it wasn't that. It was Hermione. When I was attempting the levitation charm, she criticized my pronunciation. 'It's Wing- _gar_-dium Levi-_o_-sa, make the "gar" nice and long.' It's no wonder no one can stand her. She's a nightmare, honestly." At that moment, someone bumped into Harry as they rushed past him. It was Hermione. Marie caught a glimpse of her face and saw that it was stained with tears. "I think she heard you." Harry said morosely. "So?" Ron replied, though he did look uncomfortable as he did so. "She must've noticed she's got no friends." Marie nodded. 'Bought time she got taken down a peg'.

Hermione didn't show up for History of Magic, which was fortunate as Professor Binns didn't really pay attention to who's there or not. While Marie stayed mostly to spend it as a study period, by now some of the students were starting to skip the class as a waste of time. When she asked Fred and George about it a few weeks in, they told her that it used to be customary for houses to skip his class, but Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape had ruthlessly clamped down on the hooky playing students when NEWT students started sending only two classmates per house to record notes and collect homework assignments while the rest held a party down on the shores of the black lake. The Party Crash of 99' resulted in a drastic drop in cutting and a rise in detentions for a few years afterward. While cutting History of Magic still happened, it was nowhere near the levels it was before and at most only a quarter of the class regularly cuts anymore.

'They should really find a replacement for this guy.' She thought as she focused more on finishing her on the differences of earth biomes than on Binns talks about 'The Great Goblin Purge of 1391' that happened in Seville in modern Spain (though later when she was reading her history of magic textbook she was stunned with horrific and sickening horror when it stated that a riot had been sparked by wizards as a distraction while they killed 1,500 goblins. She was even more disgusted when the book, in a hand wavey fashion, also stated that 4,000 jews were also massacred. She later heard that Anthony Goldstein had voided himself in the mens toilet outside the library when he learned that nugget of information). 'We don't learn anything from him, he doesn't inspire anybody and he's not even alive.' She blew some of her hair out of her eye. 'The only thing he's good for these days is as a cheap substitute for nyquil.' The bell rang, jolting the comatose students out of their stupor, with Neville and Lavender Brown stumbling out of their chairs and crashing onto the floor. "Be sure that for next week you write a 40 centimeter essay on the fall of Azog the Devourer. Class dismissed."

Marie quickly packed up and joined Harry and Ron in the throng that lead back to the Gryffindor common room. After they had placed their stuff back in their dorms, the Gryffindors traveled down to the great hall for the Halloween Feast. "Do you know where Hermione is?" The trio heard Lavender whisper to Parvarti. "Yeah. She's been in the girls lavatory on the second floor since Charms ended, crying." "The poor thing. I know that she can be a bit much sometimes, but she didn't deserve to be called a nightmare. Did you try to get her out of there?" "Yeah, but she told me that she wanted to be left alone." Ron looked awkward at this and the three were rather subdued as they entered the Great Hall. However, any further thoughts of Hermione's plight were driven out by the decorations.

Thousands of bats flurred around the hall, resting on either the rafters and buttroses that crossed above the enchanted ceiling or flew in swarms between the hundreds of floating jack-o-lanterns, wax candles flickering inside their crooked smiles and an orange glow blazing malevolently in their wicked eyes. Above them a waning gibbous moon cast its unearthly glow across the image of the night sky, with thousands of stars dotting the blueish black abbiss of its residence. For it was the night of Samhain, when the boundary between the mortal and spiritual realms was at its thinnest, when spirits returned for the grave and the supernatural held sway over all of nature. Fires blazed in the hearths on either side of the hall, their warm glow combining with the candles and the three dozen torches to flood the room with a warm and ethereal light. As they sat down at their tables, potatoes of every kind and style appeared along with tubs of apple sauce and thick blood pudding, plates of grilled bratwurst, kielbasa, grilled sausages and smoked ham and bowls of grilled brussel sprouts, sauteed peppers and grilled butternut squash.

Unfortunately, the feast was ruined. As Marie was spreading a knife full of brown mustard on a 30 centimeter long weisswurst, Professor Quirrell crashed through the massive double doors and sprinted up the central lane towards the professors table, his turban askew and loose and his face ash white with terror. He slumped against the professors table and gasped to Dumbledore "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know." He then slumped to the floor and in a dead faint.

Pandemonium broke out. Terrified first and second years ran up and down the rows screaming at the tops of their lungs. Girls from the sixth and fifth years were crying in their boyfriends arms and the twins were throwing food everywhere. Even Daphne was shocked (or at least Marie thought so. All that happened was that her eyelids opened up a little). Dumbledore then shot several purple firecrackers that exploded with the force of a grenade. With the school's attention he rumbled firmly "Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" Percy quickly reorganized the Gryffindors and started to lead them back up the stairs from the entrance hall. "Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now." He then started to force their way through a crowd of Ravenclaws. " Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs. "Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," Ron replied. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke." "Nah, that's not his style." Marie stated dismissively. "This sounds too complicated for him. Besides, Peeves never leaves the castle anyway. Where on earth would he get a troll anyway?" They continued to struggle through the crowds as they ascended towards the seventh floor. They were passing by a group of confused Hufflepuffs when Harry suddenly grabbed Ron and Marie's arms. "I've just thought-Hermione." "What about her?" Ron asked. "She doesn't know about the troll." Harry answered. Marie's eyes grew wide in fright. "Oh. Shit." Harry nodded his affirmation. Ron bit his lip in thought. "Oh, all right." he agreed reluctantly. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them. "Percy!" Ron hissed as he pulled Marie and Harry behind a stone gargoyle. Peeking around the base of the gargoyle, they saw that it wasn't Percy, but rather Snape that was coming down the corridor. Luckily for them, he hadn't seen them and had quickly swished down the corridor and out of sight. "He's heading for the third floor." Harry muttered, his eyes narrowing. Before he could follow him though, Ron held up his hand. "Do you smell something?" Marie quickly sniffed and immediately wished that she hadn't. Her nostrils were assaulted by the mixture of months old socks and a decontaminated public toilet. Her face turned a thick lime green and she had to cover her mouth as she struggled to swallow down the bile that had entered her throat. "*gulp* Oh God. This is almost as bad as the time I smelled Ed's cheese wedge." Then the shaking stomp of large feet echoed through the stone hallway, followed by the haggard grunts of something large and hungry. Ron pointed towards a long stretch of misshapen shadow on the far wall, growing in size as it moved towards them. The three shrank back behind the gargoyle as the creature emerged into the moonlight.

The troll was more than 3 and a half meters tall, with a broad build similar to a defensive tackle. Its skin was a dull, granite gray and it sagged loosely in several areas, as if it had recently lost a large amount of weight. It's stomach was broad and slouching, making it seem as if its tiny bald head was sitting on top of a rotted peach. It's sickly yellow eyes blinked dully in the moonlight as it's pig-like nose sniffed the air and it's basset hound like mouth moved with every shudder of its rat-like teeth. Its short legs were as thick as oak trunks with flat, horned feet thumping against the floor like elephant hooves. Behind it, a large wooden club dragged along the ground, its handle held limply in the troll's long and muscular arms. It moved slowly towards a door, looked inside, slowly worked the rusty gears in its head that it called a brain and entered the room.

"The keys in the lock." Harry muttered. "We could lock it in." "Good idea." Ron agreed nervously. The three of them slid along the walls, their mouths dry and their backs as flat against it as they could. As they reached the door, Harry leaped and twisted the key in the lock. "Yes!" Harry exclaimed silently. While Harry and Ron were flushed with success and preparing to head down to the dungeons to inform the professors, Marie noticed something that caused her stomach to drop. Painted on the door was a sky blue caricature of a woman. "Hey guys," Marie asked nervously. "You don't think anyone was in there, right?" She was quickly answered by a high pitched scream from the other side of the door. "Oh no." Ron uttered, his face as pale as the Bloody Baron. Marie and Harry leaped for the lock, fumbling with it a bit in a state of panic, hurled open the door and charged inside.

The sight before them was a state of pandemonium. Hermione dove against the opposite wall, narrowly avoiding a swing from the troll that took out half the bathroom stalls. Water was spraying from the destroyed toilets and sinks and bits of large wood splinters covered the ground. "Confuse it!" Harry ordered before seizing a broken sink tap and throwing it as hard as he could against the wall. Hearing the clang of metal on stone, the troll lumbered around stupidly and turned away from Hermione. It's tiny eyes spotted Harry. Aggravated, he changed targets and started moving towards him. Marie seized the opportunity presented and sprinted towards Hermione. "Come on, we've got to go now." she shouted to her. Unfortunately Hermione had frozen in terror, her body as rigid as stone. Marie groaned. "We don't have time for this." She grabbed Hermione, hoisted her over shoulder like a fire man and prepared to flee as quickly as she could out the door. During this interval, Ron had thrown a chunk of wood at the back of the trolls head from the other side of the room to save Harry. Fortunately, this worked. Unfortunately, in the troll's new pursuit of Ron, he now effectively blocked their only escape route. In addition, Ron was now trapped amongst the destroyed stalls and the troll was getting closer to him.

This was when Harry did something both incredibly brave and incredibly stupid. He charged at the troll's back and leaped at the troll's neck. Somehow, he was able to wrap his arms around the troll and steer him away from Ron while giving Marie an opening towards the door. She sprinted towards it and was able to dipossite her damsel outside. She reentered and saw that things had quickly gone to shit. Harry had jammed his wand up the troll's nostril and was barely hanging on to it as the troll flailed around in pain. The troll was swinging his club wildly and had smashed the remaining sinks and most of the mirror, large shards of glass and porcelain joining the litter that now formed a dangerous obstacle across the floor. Any second, Harry could either fall off or get hit by the club. At that moment, Ron withdrew his wand from his pocket, swished it through the air and with a final flick shouted "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

The club flew from the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over-and fell on the troll's head with a resounding crack. The troll, bleeding from the severe wound, swayed listlessly and then, as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut, collapsed onto his face, spilling Harry to the ground as the troll crashed was a resounding thud upon the wet floor.

Harry slowly got to his feet, now covered in dust and slightly soaked, shakily and out of breath. Hermione peaked her head and then the rest of her body back around the door, color slowly returning to her face as the creature had been defeated. Ron was holding his wand in front of him, staring in disbelief at the unconscious troll before him, surprised that what he had done had even worked. And Marie could only stare, mouth slightly agape, at the scene before her. Hermione was the first one to break the silence. "Is it-dead?" Harry wondered over to the troll, close enough to hear some light exhalation. "I don't think so." he replied. "I think it's just been knocked out." He then bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose, grey, sticky boogers covering the wand up to the hilt. "Ugh, troll bogies." Harry muttered in disgust as he wiped his wand on the trolls tattered gray trousers.

The sudden sound of slamming doors and rush feet alerted them that what they were doing probably caused a loud ruccess and alerted the teachers down in the lower floors of the dungeon. Indeed, within seconds Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell had burst into what remained of the girls bathroom. Quirrell, true to form, took one look at the troll, squeaked and collapsed down on one of the few remaining toilets. Snape bent over the troll, making sure that it really was unconscious. McGonagall meanwhile had fixed her furious wrath upon Harry, Ron and Marie. Her lips were clenched so tightly that they were white and her eyes were as cold as frozen steel. "What on earth were you three thinking?" McGonagall asked in cold fury. Harry looked at Ron, who still had his wand in the air. Marie, for once caught on her back foot, was trying to figure out how to possibly escape detention for this. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't any of you in your dormitories?" Snape gave both Harry and Marie piercing glares. Marie, for once, couldn't blame him. This was looking like at least a month of detentions.

And then, unexpectedly, someone threw a life line. "Please Professor McGonagall-they were looking for me." McGonagall looked over, as if just realizing that she was there. Marie however immediately saw not only a way out. "Yeah Professor" she continued, her mind working at the rate of Windows Vista in order to create a believable story. "You see, Hermione here," she nodded at Hermione, who looked like she had been about to say something else. "Had to go to the bathroom before the feast. Rather difficult case indigestion. So when Professor Quirrell here came and told the hall that a troll was in the castle, Hermione didn't know about the troll so the three of us," she gestured to Ron and Harry, who were now staring at her in amazed disbelief. "Went to find her." She mentally grinned, her audience was now captivated and the she had fully formed the story in her head. If she could play this right, they might not also escape punishment, but also get rewarded. She then took on a remorseful stance. "Alas, by the time we reached where Hermione was, the troll had already left the dungeon and got here before we did. Not knowing that Hermione was in this lavatory, we locked the door in an attempt to trap it before we got you. Turned out it was the lavatory where Hermione was. With little choice we had to go in and rescue one of our fellow students. I was able to get her out of the room, but in an attempt to allow me to rescue her, Harry had grabbed the troll around the neck and was holding on for dear life. Ron then cast the levitation charm on the troll's club, dropped it on his head and saved us all!"

Her explanation concluded, she allowed a massive grin to spread across her face as she grabbed Ron around the shoulder, who was now blinking dumbly. "I will admit, it was a little touch and go there. I do believe that all of us would be dead if it weren't for you. Way to go man, and to think you were struggling with that spell earlier today." She concluded by closing her eyes and giving him a thumbs up. McGonagall looked between the four of them, looked skeptically at Marie, and then turned to Hermione. "Is this true?" she asked. Hermione nodded. McGonagall sighed in tired exasperation. "Miss Granger, I dare say that you had enough for one night. You are allowed to return to the Gryffindor common room, the feast is currently being conducted there." After Hermione left, she turned to the remaining three lions. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

Not wanting to waste their luck, the three hurried out of the bathroom and didn't talk to each other until they were two floors up. "We should've gotten more than fifthteen points for that." Ron uttered bitterly. "What, with Snape there? He would've been apocalyptic. I'm actually surprised he didn't raise a fuss for what we did, let alone give us detention." Marie stated. "I'm actually surprised Hermione went with the story I told them. She could've told them that you sent her there crying after charms." Ron winced. "Well, we did save her." he responded cautiously. "Maybe she felt that it wasn't worth it afterward." "She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the troll in with her." Harry reminded him. "That was an accident Harry. If Hermione hadn't been in there, we would've been able to trap the troll and inform the teachers without putting ourselves in danger." By this time they had reached the entrance portrait. "Look, let's just forget what happened and try to enjoy the feast. I still want that weisswurst damn it. Pig snout."

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up from the Great Hall. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassing pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks", and hurried off to get plates. But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a 3.5 meter mountain troll is one of them.


	16. Quidditch

**Sorry about how late the last chapter was. Contractors are tearing down my bedroom wall soon, so I've been spending my time packing my room. Ten books were dedicated to books alone, and I just finished packing all my clothes. We probably have to move to a town house for a bit, so expect a bit of a slow down for the foreseeable future. I've also been getting into **_**Kai-chowa Maid-Sama!**_** recently, and I've been thinking about making a crossover for **_**Maid-Sama!**_** and the **_**Total Drama Series**_**, working the story of **_**Maid-Sama!**_** a bit with the cast **_**Total Drama Series**_** and the storyline of **_**Total Drama World Tour**_**. Before you ask, there will be romance and no, it won't be with Cody. As for the other idea I've been kicking around, I'm doing it. I just really want to work on this story and I feel like I should start right after I finish the **_**Chamber of Secrets**_**. Info on the series will be posted on my homepage soon, detailing how I'm going to structure it and where it will end. I will not be doing **_**GT**_**, that is just a convilcade of bad writing, bad world building, bad characterization and bad story telling. Also, considering the cast, the original **_**Dragonball **_**will only be mentioned sparingly. While I work on getting the outline out, I'll leave this chapter for my readers while I'm out of the house and the construction crews are building a bathroom that will allow us to move back, or until we have a more stable living situation. Until then, I do not own Harry Potter or Ed, Edd and Eddy. Those are owned by J.K. Rowling, AT&T and Warner Media.**

**Quidditch**

"Remind me again why we're studying out here instead of in the common room." Marie asked Hermione as she, Ron and Harry huddled together with her in a circle in the corner of the western castle courtyard, trying to warm her hands by some bright blue fire that Hermione had conjured in a jar. Hermione sighed. "Because Fred and George threw a dungbomb in the fireplace, contaminating the common room. And before you ask, the reason we aren't in the library is because all the desks were full." Marie growled. "Stupid Fred and George. Forcing me out in the cold." "Don't you live in Wisconsin?" Harry asked. "Yes, doesn't mean I have to like the cold."

November had come quickly and harshly upon the shores of the Highlands. The mountains around the school had been covered in silvery gray snow. The lake had turned a foreboding dark grey, with Madam Pomfrey having to treat several cases of frostbite because students were daring each other to stick their hands into the water for long periods of time. The grounds were covered in frost every night, and with several inches of snow whenever it was raining the previous day. With the arrival of Quidditch season, Hagrid has been seen defrosting the brooms every morning, standing out in the early morning dawn in his mole skin coat, his hands covered in rabbit fur gloves and his beaver skin boots, the ground glistening like diamonds as the rays of the sun danced across the frost.

The fact that Harry had go out in this weather to fly on a broom was something that Marie found rather stupid. She had been to one practice in order to spend some time heckling the team, only to grow bored of it before she could even throw a single fruit as the team went through movements that seemed dull to her. The closest sport that she could equate to is soccer, something interesting to do, but boring to watch. After Harry had read through _Quidditch through the Ages_ the first time, he had leant it to her to read, which only made her more confused about the sport. There were more than seven hundred ways to commit a foul in Quidditch and somehow all of them were done in a match in 1473. She also learned that while players rarely died playing Quidditch, referees tended to disappear for several months before reemerging, unharmed, in some area of the Sahara Desert. When she returned the book to Harry, she commented that Quidditch is more archaic than the NFL.

Hermione's addition to the group had proven an unexpected boon for Marie. Since Hermione was the most intelligent person in school, her friends had been able to convince her to check over their work to make sure that it was good. While she did make sure that they showed their own work, her corrections allowed Harry and Ron to generally get the right answers anyway. Marie however, since she already was good at doing her work already, just had Hermione proofread her stuff so she could get to McGonagall quicker, allowing her more time to focus on other things, like learning wizards chess with Ron and Neville.

Hermione's personality had also been able to bounce off Marie's better. Hermione, while she had relaxed around the rules since the troll incident, still had a healthy respect for authority and order. Marie couldn't care a hoot about authority, as showcased when she spray painted '_Gordon Brown is George Bush's puppet'_ on the walls of the Great Hall. Marie lost ten points (mostly because most of the purebloods and teachers didn't know who Gordan Brown is) and got a detention with Professor McGonagall doing the first years laundry. This, combined with the fact that Hermione was more than a year older than Marie, made her more of an older, fussier sister figure for Marie than a friend. But the fact that she had someone that she could work with without having to slow down to explain or to stop to help her study partner was a nice change of pace.

"Alright, I'll stop complaining. Now, can you remind me what we're supposed to be working on?" Ron rummages through his rucksack and pulls out a note. "We're supposed to be writing an essay on one of the eight planets and two dwarf planets of the solar system and describing how they got their names and why. I got assigned to Neptune." Marie huffed. "Oh right. You got one of the cool ones, while I got stuck with Venus." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Are you still upset about that? I would've thought writing about a planet so hot that the air is made out of sulfuric acid would've made you excited to talk about it." "Oh right, I would like to write about a love goddess that came from sea foam that regularly cheated on her husband with his brother?" Marie exclaimed indignantly. "Oh yes, definitely something I would like to write about." Hermione glared at her. "That still doesn't excuse trying to throw a desk at Professor Sinistra and shouting 'How could you betray me like this, I thought we had something'." Marie scowled at that. "You were lucky that you weren't given detention for that." "Yes, Mom. I'll be on my best behavior from now on." "Stop being so sarcastic. Now suck it up and write." She then thrust a roll of parchment, a few quills, a bottle of ink and a book into Marie's hands.

"Fine. But why couldn't I have gotten Pluto? Harry already did the essay on him and he's been doing four Quidditch practices a week." She then gestured to Harry, who was reading _Quidditch through the Ages_ while the others worked. "Because Sinestra isn't omniscient and didn't know that you liked Disney's _Hercules_, get to work." Hermione snapped. Marie grumbled as she flatted the parchment on the book and dipped a quill in the ink well before focusing on her essay. The three of them worked on their essays (Hermione had been assigned to work on the dwarf planet Ceres) for some time. They were taking a break around the fire with Harry when Snape crossed the yard, Marie noticing with a clear limp that seemed to have him forcibly dragging his right leg behind him. The four of them huddled closer together to block the fire from view, certain that it was somehow against the school rules. Unfortunately, Hermione, Ron and Harry didn't have very good poker faces, causing Snape to march over to them in suspicion. Luckily for them, he hadn't seen the fire, but Snape never did need much of an excuse to deduct points from Gryffindor.

"What have we got here, Potter?" he sneered, pointing a finger at the book in Harry's hands. "Library book sir." Harry answered, showing Snape the cover. "Library books are not to be taken outside of the castle." Snape drawled, swiping the book from Harry's hands. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor." Marie opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly gagged by Hermione to keep the situation from escalating. Even with Marie biting her on her palm, Hermione refused to let go until Snape had limped out of sight. "He's just making the rule up. Wonder what's wrong with his leg?" Harry muttered. "Dunno, but I hope it's hurting him." Ron spat bitterly. They then heard a slight tearing sound. "FUUUCCCCKKKKK!"

After a quick stop at the hospital wing to repair the gash on Hermione's hand and for Marie to wash the blood out of her mouth, the four of them returned to the Gryffindor common room, which had now been purged of all smells of dung by an irate Filch, to continue the work they had started. "I can't believe that you ate the skin after you tore it off." Hermione grumbled, nursing the raw skin that Madam Pomfrey had regrown. "You should've released my mouth before you volunteered for humanitarian aid then." Marie answered dispassionately, as she was busy writing '_What, in your opinion, would a creative use for the cutting charm?' _for Charms. "That's not funny." "Wasn't meant to be." "And don't think I don't see that you're taking this opportunity to procrastinate on working on that essay for Astronomy. You're going to have to do it sometime before Monday." "And I will," Marie replied, her nose in the air in a faux snobbery. "It's not procrastination if you're still doing school work, it's just having a different priority." Ron and Harry snickered as Hermione rubbed her temples, a headache starting to develop.

The four of them grew silent as they worked into the evening. The common room refilled and the noise grew as more and more Gryffindors returned to the common room. The buzz was aggravating the four of them. Hermione was reviewing Ron and Harry's essays, cutting through lines and wrong answered with quill as if it were a katana through pork, Harry was sitting at his sitting in frustration, his fingers tapping against the table with the force of drumsticks against a bass drum, Ron was struggling through an essay on hair growth potions and Marie was writing about Venus. None of them were particularly happy.

Harry stood up. "I'm going to ask Snape if I could have my book back." he stated. The other three looked up dully. "Rather you than me." Ron and Hermione said together. "We'll be sure to give a stirring eulogy at your funeral." Marie said distractedly as she turned back to her essay. As Harry left, Marie took the time to review her essay so far. All that was on the page was an embroidered _The_ that would put most medieval manuscripts to shame. 'Damn it, she's right. I am procrastinating.' She sighed as she shoved the parchment away. 'It's not like there aren't any parts of Venus that wouldn't be interesting to talk about, like how it's rotation causes the sun to rise in the west and set in the east, or how a year on Venus is shorter than a day on it, but all I see when I think about it is a stupid blonde japanese girl wearing a sailor fuku and shouting about defending love and justice.' She blew out a breath. 'Really wish someone would put on some Sex Pistols, or _Days of Future Passed_. Could use some good old fashioned rock music right about now.'

She looked around the common room. Lavender and Pavarti are giggling with each other, looking through a copy of some wizarding fashion magazine called _Witch's Weekly_ in the corner of the room, clearly talking about something stupid. Neville was talking with Sally-Anne about Jupiter, with Sally-Anne looking as if she were about to faint, so that was a no. Seamus and Dean were playing gob stones, a version of marbles that squirted this sticky and smelly glop that would probably be a great gift to give to Ed, but she wasn't that big a fan of it, wasn't a big fan of sticky stuff in general. Fred and George were serving a detention after the made the desks in Transfiguration into semi-sentient horses that wrecked the classroom. That left Runcorn, who was reading a book by the fire.

She walked over and leaned over the couch. "What yaw readin'?" Eliza looked up, her eyes widening a bit before her shoulders relaxed. "Oh, nothing much." She showed Marie the title of the book, _A detailed history of the Ministry of Magic, Volume 3: The Ministry during the Early Colonial Era by Caligulus Malfoy_. Marie quirked her eyebrow. "Are you one of those people that like to read history textbooks?" Eliza Runcorn blushed and nodded. Marie shrugged. "Hey don't worry, I'm not going to take the mickey out of you for it. There's a guy back home where I live that does it as well and his intelligence is one of the things I like about him." She leaped over the couch and took a seat next to her. "Besides, why should you care about other people's opinions on what you want to do?" Eliza, while initially started, started to ponder. "I guess I shouldn't, it's just that my dad is a member of the ministry and the Wizengamot. I'm kind of expected to know about their history.." Marie gave a derisive laugh. "Oh please. Do you really expect these morons in the government to care about archaic laws useless they could benefit them in some way. Please, my president doesn't even know how to articulate the saying 'If you fool me once, shame on you. If you fool me twice, shame on me.'" Eliza considered this. "Is your country stupid?" Marie shrugged. "We allowed a woman whos only claim to fame is a sex tape to get her own reality tv show and the Oscar for best picture to go to _Crash_ over _Brokeback Mountain_. I think we're well on our way to mentaly deficient. All we have to do is elect a reality TV star to the Presidency and our road towards Moronville will be complete."

Eliza nodded before turning back to the book. She stared at the cover for a minute. "Hey, do you have any suggestions, for say, some light reading?" Marie raised her right eyelid. "You sure? I was raised entirely in the muggle world. I wouldn't know any wizard world recreational reading." Eliza snorted. "Please, the only things wizard created that might be recreational reading are _The Tales of Beedle and Bard_ and some comic books. I want some of that muggle stuff that I hear Dean or Seamus talk about." "_The Tales of Beedle and Bard_." Marie commented. "What is that? Is it a singular tale or a collection of short stories?" "The last one." Marie put her hand under her chin, pondering. "Do you like it?" Eliza shrugged. "I like a few of the tales, especially the darker ones. But it's mostly for children." "I think I have something you would like. They're called _Grimms Fairy Tales_, and trust me when I say they are very dark." At this moment Harry barged back into the room, looked harried and slightly terrified. "I'll talk to you later. If you want, I can write a letter to a friend of mine for some book suggestions." Eliza nodded. "Yeah, that would be nice."

Marie rushed over to Harry as he staggered into a seat near Ron and Hermione. "Did you get it?" Ron asked. He then looked up and saw the pasty white of Harry's face. "What's the matter?" "Yeah man, you look as if you walked in on Snape with Filch." Harry stared at Marie in stunned horror. Marie's eyes widened in disgust. "Oh god you did. Ah god, now I can't get that image out of my head." Harry sputtered in stunned disbelief as Ron's cheeks tinged a grass green and Hermione blushed. "What?! No, I went to the staff room to ask Snape for my book back and I found him with Filch treating a bloody wound on his leg. Before he saw me he said to Filch 'Blasted thing, how are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?'" He then leaned forward and whispered. "You know what this means? He tried to get past the three headed dog on Hallowe'en! That's where he was going when we saw him-he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let the troll in, to create a diversion!" "I'll take that bet." Marie said, her eyes sparkling with rage. "Personally, I think Filch let the troll in." Hermione looked at her sceptically. "Why Filch?" "Think about it. The staff have to know about what's in the corridor, so why didn't he go to Madam Pomfrey to get his leg fixed? She could fix broken bones in minutes, so healing a bite wound should've taken even less than that, so why didn't he? Simple, because people would find out. And yet, he went to Filch. If he was working alone he could've treated the wound himself but he went to Filch for help. Because he trusts him, why? Because he's in on it. They're working together."

Ron eyes widened in horror. "It's a conspiracy. A conspiracy by the two biggest wankers in existence." Hermione still looked conflicted. "But, they wouldn't try to steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe." She said cautiously. "Hermione, they were willing to steal from Gringotts. Why wouldn't they try to steal from under Dumbledore's nose?" Marie stated.

"Coffee. Coffee." A death like groan came from the Gryffindor table. A tangled mess of navy blue hair covered a figure of shallow white skin and bloodshot eyes as it listly tried to find the energy to lift it's arm. Ron looked up from his breakfast, his mouth full of baked beans as he gazed at the grotesque creature before him. "Whass up wit 'er?" "Ronald, swallow your food before you speak." "Sorry. What's up with her?" Hermione turned her head to look at the zombie that sat next to her. "Don't mind her. She didn't get enough sleep last night. She kept waking us up in the middle of the night because she had nightmares of Snape and Filch." "Really? What kind?" Ron asked "Well at one point she woke us up by shouting 'Stupid sexy Snape' so make of that what you will." Hermione replied as she took a swig of black chai tea. Ron looked at his spoon, then down at his plate of baked beans and sausages, back to his spoon, then put the spoon down and pushed his plate away.

"So, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Hope Harry's doing alright, he looked like he was about to lose what little breakfast he had when he left." "Well it is his first game and Seamus's 'words of encouragement' certainly didn't help. I just hope nothing bad happens up there." "Same. Those Slytherin players looked like a bunch of thugs. You'd think that they'd come from a line of troll hybrids." Hermione shuddered. "Please don't remind me of trolls, the day I see a troll in a book drawing would be too soon." she whimpered. Ron flinched. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Hermione shook her head. "It's okay, you didn't know." she whispered. Before they were able to fall into an awkward silence, they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. They turned and saw a blood Slytherin first year walking towards them.

"What do you want?" Ron growled. The Slytherin blinked autonomously. "Good morning to you too." she said in a monotone. She looked over at the decaying zombie who was trying to weakly reach a large iron kettle. "You look awful." she stated blankly. "Coffee." the grotesque horror groaned. The Slytherin looked over at the pot. She grabbed it, threw the horrid animal down on the bench and poured half of it down its throat. The being swallowed, causing a spectacular transformation. It's skin flushed, the red veins receded from its retinas and life returned to the animated corpse. "I LIVE!" she shouted as she rose like a mummy from its sarcophagus. She then looked around the hall. "Where am I?" "Hello Yank." Marie looked up. "Oh hey Daph, what are you doing here?" The Slytherin, who's name appeared to be Daphne, had her right eyebrow rise a fraction of an inch. "Well it is the Great Hall. I tend to come here to eat often." Marie smirked. "See this is why I like you. You always know the right thing to say." She turned around. "So, what can I do for ya?" "Nothing, I just wanted to inform you that I will be spending the game with my dorm mates." Marie sighed. "You don't need to tell me these things. I'd understand either way. Do you like them at least?" Daphne blinked. "I've created a repore with Tracy Davis and Lily Moon, but Millicent Buldstrode is a brutish delinquent and Pansy Parkinson is a catty shrew. Luckily for me she's nowhere near as bright as her father is, so that's something." "Still playing the political game huh?" "Yes, unfortunately I'm finding it depressingly easy. If it weren't for Nott and Snape's favoritism of Malfoy I would've taken control of half of the house by now." Hermione and Ron watched in stunned amazement as Marie chuckled. "Ah, the perils of a young Machiavelli, nepotism. Just find some muscle and you should be fine. I'll see you in potions then?" "Indeed. I take it you're going to ignore my advice and cause another commotion in class." Marie gave an evil grin. "Of course. Goodbye Yank. Hope you enjoy the game."

Ron and Hermione watched Marie wave the Slytherin away. "What the hell was that?" Ron exclaimed angrily. "Oh, I was just talking to my, friend? Acquaintance? Colleague? Honestly I don't know what our relationship is. The best I can figure out is that we're like magnets, our opposite charges just keep drawing us to each other. Other than that, the best I can say is that she's just interesting to interact with. It's like a rock having a conversation with a leaf." Hermione looked at Marie in confusion. "I guess I can see where you're coming from, but where did you meet her?" "Oh, Madam Malkins. We were getting fitted at the same time and we started talking. I kept it up with her because I find that her stoicism is kind of cute." "Cute?!" Ron shreacked indignately. "Yeah, like a girl trying to act all adult-like. I think it's really cute." A loud roar ripped through the hall. "Hey, are there any pancakes left?"

The three of them left for the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the school about an hour later. The vast mob of students trudged down the slightly damp slope towards the stadium, mist starting to rise from them. While the scarves were able to designate what house the students were from, flags of red, gold, green and silver dotted the crowd, the true supporters and the temporary bandwagon fans united in their desire to see their respective team win. The college-like atmosphere was infectious, with even non quidditch fans like Percy and Hermione swept up in the enthusiasm. They entered into the wooden interior and climbed up the stairs before entering out into the ringed palisade that looped the stadium in a oblong oval. 25 meter towers dotted the pitch every 30 meters, which the early fans quickly filled so that they could have the best seats. A few fist fights broke out as hundreds of students fought for the right to not be shoved into the seats behind the goal posts. Two sets of three of them towered at intervals of 20 meters, 23.5 meters and 27 meters towered like giant bubble wands on either side of the pitch, their bronze finish reflecting off the late morning sun.

"You think that with a thousand years they would've updated the seats." Marie complained as they moved down the rotted wooden benches near the center of the pitch. "These things look like they'll collapse underneath us. How are they still even standing?" Hermione tapped the bench, listening to the sound of the wood. She then grabbed the bench and attempted to rip off some of it. "I think it's some sort of combination of a preservation spell and a strengthening spell. Has to be, considering that the wood isn't stained for protection from the elements." The three were joined by Dean, Neville and Seamus carrying a rolled up bed sheet. "You got it then?" Ron asked. Dean nodded. "Yep. Just finished it this morning." The three of them unrolled the bed sheet. They had transformed it into a banner. In messy sans-serif font they had written _Potter for Prime Minister_ in rose red letters and decorated the bottom with a gold Gryffindor lion. "Pretty good ain't it?" Dean asked with pride. "Almost." Hermione responded. She then took out her wand and pointed at the letters. "_Mico colorum." _With its unterance, the letters on the banner started to flash. First black, then jade green, then sea blue, then dark silver and on and on it flashed, the words changing colors every three seconds. "There, now it's perfect." Hermione answered excitedly.

The six of them tied the banner around the inner wall of the pitch. "So, this your first Quidditch match Marie?" Dean asked. "Yeah. I don't understand what the big deal with it is. I watched one of Harry's practices and it was about as interesting as watching a tennis match." "Just wait until it gets started." Ron stated excitedly. "Fred and George told me that Gryffindor versus Slytherin matches are always dirty and fierce games. Should be amazing. I hope it goes on for a week." Hermione smacked his arm. "Don't say that! Can you imagine how behind we'll be in our lessons if that were to happen!" she exclaimed indignantly. Marie looked over at Ron in concern. "Why are you hoping that it will last a week? These things don't take that long do they?" Ron shook his head. "Not usually, but it happens more often than you think. The only way for a game of Quidditch to end is for the seeker to catch the snitch you see, and since the snitch is about as big as a walnut and moves very quickly, it's also hard to see, especially in bad weather." "Yeah," Seamus agreed, a grin plastered on his face. "The record for the longest match is three months. The teams kept having to bring on reserve players so that they could eat and sleep." Neville, Marie, Dean and Hermione looked at Seamus in stunned disbelief. "And I thought that baseball games went on for way too fucking long." Marie muttered as she lifted her binoculars to see if the teams were coming out of the dressing room yet.

"Oh look, Madam Hooch is coming out." The hawk eyed witch was walking across the field carrying a medium sized cedar casket. She walked out into the middle of the field below the stands and placed it on the ground. In the center box, Lee Jordan opened up on the microphone with a homerism only rivaled by Rick Jeanneret and Merrill Reese. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the first game of the 2007-2008 Hogwarts Quidditch season and it is an amazing day to open the season. The weather is currently hovering at around 3 degrees Celcius with a wind chill of 1 degree Celcius with clear skies and a little breeze, so nobody is going to be blown off course in today's game. And what a game to start the season with, Gryffindor," (2/3rds of the stadium roared in ravenous exaltation) "versus Slytherin." (the same 2/3rds booed in rapid hate) "There have been very few changes in the lineups for today's match. Starting in their first games for the Slytherins are chasers Adrian Puecy and Graham Montague and Keeper Miles Bletchley, and chaser Katie Bell and seeker Harry Potter for Gryffindor. Everyone give them a big hand!"

The audience roared as the two teams made their way onto the field, each draped in the robes of their respective houses colors, a dark emerald green with a silver trim and a burnt red with a pale gold trim respectively. The captains separated once they reached the middle of the field and shook hands before mounting their brooms. The casket was opened, the whistle was blown and the horses were off.

In hindsight it was rather stupid of Marie to assume that Quidditch was just soccer on brooms. As she watched the speed that the players flew up and down the court, the quickness of their reactions as they threw the quaffle, the multitude of possession changes caused by either a bludger hitting a chaser or a brilliant interception she thought 'This isn't soccer of brooms, this is hockey on brooms!' A grin grew across her face as she took in the chaos above her, Lee's commentary punctuating the match with rapid-fire snips. "Quaffle taken by Slytherin-that's Adrian Puecy speeding off towards the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second bludger-sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which-nice play by the Gryffindor beater anyway. Johnston back in possession of the quaffle, clear field ahead, look at her fly! Dodges a speeding bludger- the goalposts are ahead-come on now Angelina-Bletchley dives-misses and SHE SCORES!"

Swept up in the enthusiasm, half the stadium roared in cheers, a quarter booed and the other quarter politely applauded. In the more mixed sections, a few shooves were given in response to either the cheers or the boos, but no fights had yet broken out.

"Budge up there, move along." The six students turned around as they responded to the low rumble. "Hagrid!" Hermione exclaimed happily moving closer to Ron so that he could have enough room. "Been watchin' from me hut, but it ain't the same as bein' in the crowd." He looked around the field with his massive binoculars. "No sign of the snitch yet, eh?" "Nope." Ron answered disappointedly, his head swiveling all over the field. "Harry's had nothing to do yet." "'Kept outta trouble though, that's something." Hagrid muttered as he raised his binoculars to track Harry, who was zig zagging around the pitch. Hermione winced. "I'm guessing you heard about the troll?" Hagrid lowered his binoculars and nodded. "Aye. Nasty piece a business that. Four of ya' are lucky to have survived at all, let alone unharmed. Trolls are tough creatures, in spite oh their stupidity. Their skin is resistant to most spells an' their long arms give 'em a long reach. And you beat it wit' just a hoverin' charm?" he chuckled. "Begger's belief, that's impressive. Mind ya, not somethin' I want either of yeh to do again." Seamus scoffed. "Oh come on Hagrid, they're not that suicidal." "Yeah, besides we were only trying to get Hermione because she wasn't at dinner with us." Ron explained. "It's not like we meant to fight a troll." Hagrid nodded and the group turned their eyes back to the game.

"Slytherin in possession. Puecy dodges two bludgers, Weasleys and Bell and speeds towards the-wait a moment-was that the snitch?" A speck of gold passed by Puecy's left ear, distracting him and causing him to drop the quaffle. Harry and the Slytherin seeker, Terrance Higgs, tore after the snitch. Higgs size allowed him to remain neck and neck for a bit, but Harry's speed was starting to allow him to get ahead. He was ahead bit half a head, a full head, half a broom length, a broom length, two. He was almost there. He sped up. And then WHAM! The captain of the Slytherin team, chaser Marcus Flint, had intentionally blocked Harry from the snitch, causing a collision so fierce that Harry was sent spinning out of control, hanging onto his broom for dear life. But dirty or not, Flint's plan succeeded. The snitch had disappeared in the confusion.

"Send him off ref! Red card!" "Put him in the penalty box you blind hag!" "Dean, this isn't futbal. You can't send people off in quidditch-and what's a red card? And a penalty box?" "They oughta change the rules, Flint coulda knocked Harry out of the air." "Bloody snakes, scum the whole lotta them." "Seamus, language." Ron banged his fist on the railing as Lee announced (with some censorship from McGonagall) that Madam Hooch had awarded Gryffindor a penalty shot. "Come on, come on, YES!" he shouted as Alicia Spinnet slipped the quaffle through the right goal post. "Alright," Seamus declared smuggly. "And we got the quaffle back, even better! COME ON LIONS!" The game continue like this for several minutes, the quaffle changing possessions, the players zooming up and down the field, a close matchup of Gryffindors speedy counter-attack offense with Slytherin's strong, hard hitting defensive attack, a contest not just between the school's longest rivalry, but between the two best teams Hogwarts had seen in two decades. And then everything went wrong.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing." Hagrid muttered, his binoculars fixed on Harry. "If I didn' know any better I'd say he'd lost control of his broom. But he...can't have." As he released what was happening, the entire stadium looked up. Harry's broom was jerking around like an untamed bronco. It bucked, flipped, twisted and did everything that it could to try to throw Harry off. Everybody, from the fans to the players were distracted by his plight. Then, one particularly strong buck threw him nearly completely off the broom, leaving him dangling from the shaft by one hand.

"Did something happen when Flint blocked him?" Seamus asked. "Can't 'ave." Hagrid answered shakelily. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful dark magic. No kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand." "No student..." Marie muttered as she and Hermione started to frantically search the crowd. "I knew it." Hermione growled, binoculars focused on the center box. Marie followed her gaze. "That callous little…" Enraged, she crushed her binoculars in her hand, bit of metal and glass scattering onto the crosswalk. "What is it?" Seamus asked. "It's Snape. He's jinxing the broom." Hermione seethed. "WHAT?!" Seamus, Dean and Hagrid shouted, the three of them diving for their binoculars. "Don't worry. I'll put a stop to it." Hermione declared as she took off through the stands.

While she forced her way through the crowd, the game had ground to a halt. Fred and George had moved underneath Harry in an attempt to pull Harry onto their broom, but everytime they got close, the broom moved out of reach, eventually forcing them to circle underneath in an attempt to catch when he was eventually thrown off the broom. The Slytherin beaters, in a rare showing of solidarity, also flew nearby in order to prevent bludgers from heading his direction. The only one still paying attention to the game was Flint, who took advantage of the others distraction to score five goals, giving Slytherin a comfortable 60-20 lead. "Come on Hermione." Ron muttered, his binoculars trained like a hawk upon Snape, who was whispering some spell under his breath, his glistening eyes focused coldly on Harry. Seamus and Dean were just as focused, their binoculars following Hermione through the crowds as she shoved and bumped her through crowd after crowd of students towards the central box. "She's not going to make it in time." Neville wailed into Marie's shoulder, unable to look at Harry. "Don't count her out just yet." she replied as she tracked Hermione with Neville's binoculars. "She just reached the center box." Hagrid and the three others joined her in watching the box. "Okay, she's got her wand out." Dean muttered. "She's going to...wait. Did she just?" "I...I think she did." Seamus replied in disbelief. Marie started shaking, her fist stuffed into her mouth to keep herself from laughing. "Wha' on earth is she doing?" Hagrid uttered in amazement. "Setting Snape on fire apparently." Ron replied, just as amazed as Hagrid as he watched Snape stamp out the fire on his cloak. "Well, it looks like it did the trick, look!" Seamus pointed in joy as Harry climbed back onto his now stable broom. He flew back towards the ground, when he threw his hands over his mouth, looking as if he was able to lose what little breakfast he had. He hit the pitch on all fours, coughed and a small, golden ball fell into his hands. Marie, after witnessing this, couldn't stop herself anymore and fell to the ground, laughing.

"Well, you can't say that this game wasn't interesting." Dean commented to Seamus and Neville as he skipped a stone across the Black lake. Seamus took a swing of some chilled pumpkin juice he had been able to swipe from the Great hall. "If you can call the smartest witch in our grade committing arson by setting our teacher on fire and our seeker choking on the snitch just interesting, I hate to see what your version of boring is." "Oh come off it Seamus." Dean snarked as he skipped another stone. "We won the game and nobody was seriously hurt. Even Snape was able to put the fire out without it damaging his cloak too much." Seamus growled, before taking another swig. "Git should've gotten more than just a burnt cloak for what he was trying to do. One more good buck and Harry would've been sent home in a casket." Neville whimpered. "Can we please not talk about this anymore." Seamus winced. "Sorry Nev, I didn't mean it like that." Dean skipped another stone, rougher this time, it's skips taking it further out into the lake.

"But why though?" he pondered, rolling his shoulder to deal with some aches. "I know that he hates Harry, but he hates all of us so it can't be because of that." Seamus scoffed. "Maybe he was angry at Harry making the Quidditch team. Figured that Gryffindor would be too good with him on it, so he did it to weaken the competition." Dean shook his head. "Doubtful. He didn't know how good he would be in a game, for all he knew Harry would have crashed and burned. And besides, don't you think he would've told his team what he was going to do if he was going to do it for that?" "Yeah, the Slytherin beaters were trying to help rescue him just as much as Fred and George were." Neville agreed. "And Higgs didn't look for the snitch at all while Harry was hanging on his broom. The only one who kept playing the game was Flint." Seamus chuckled darkly. "Didn't look too happy did he when Harry caught the snitch in his mouth." "Is he still complaining to Madam Hooch about it?" Neville asked. "Think so," Dean answered as he picked up another rock. "Probably should give up though. The game ended an hour ago." Seamus smirked. "Merlin, what a sore loser."

Neville chuckled with the others, before laying back against the base of the hill, a small smile on his face. It felt nice to just hang out with the other Gryffindors without having to worry about homework. While he loved his grandmother and he did feel grateful for all the things she'd done for him, he didn't like being under the weight of all of her expectations. He always felt that he had to live up to some achievable ideal when he was with her, that she was trying to make her into her ideal of what her grandson should be rather than who he was. Hogwarts gave him the chance to relax, make friends on his own terms and spend time doing subjects that he actually liked, like Herbology. Heck if it weren't for Snape or Malfoy, things would be perfect.

'Although," he thought sourly. 'It would be easier if there weren't a monsterous cerberus hanging around the third floor.' That was the big unknown elephant in the room, the damocles that was held at the throat of each and every student at Hogwarts. He peeked over at Dean and Seamus, watching as Dean laughed at some joke that Seamus told before skipping yet another stone. They didn't know. As far as he knew, he, Ron, Harry, Hermione and Marie were the only ones besides the teachers that knew that there was a giant and potentially lethal dog lurking in the castle. Why, he didn't know. The only thing he knew was that it was guarding...something. But what could be so important or so powerful that an entire corridor had to be sectioned off as an oversized dog house? Neville shook his head, clearing his mind of such curiosities. No, best to try to forget that the dog existed. Focus on the lighter thing; homework, his friends in Gryffindor, the green houses. Those are the things he needs to think about.

"What's got her in a knit?" Seamus asked. Neville got up and saw that Marie was stomping over the rise, agitation smeared all over her face. She plopped down on a patch of dirt by the rocky shore of the lake and glared out over the flat water. "Stupid Snape. Stupid Hagrid. Stupid Filch. Stupid Granger." she muttered, not noticing that they were there. The three looked at each other. 'Stupid Hagrid?' Dean skipped a rock close to her, catching her attention when some splashed water got in her eyes. "Alright, which one of ya' did it? Either way, someone is going swimming today!" The three of them back up in fear. While neither of them had been on the extreme end of her anger, but just last week she had thrown a fourth year Hufflepuff through two walls for accidently knocking her over while she was coming back from detention. This got her another detention from Professor McGonagall cleaning the owlery, but it had firmly established herself as someone you did not want to anger.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Dean panicky exclaimed. "Just wanted to know why you're upset at Hagrid and Hermione!" Marie's glare grew more intense, but it was now directed across the lake, so the three boys now assumed that they were safe. "Just some things we discussed with Hagrid and Hermione getting on my case on that stupid astronomy paper. Again." She growled. She grabbed a rock and hurled it across the lake. The three boys watched in amazement as it skipped clear across the lake and clunked against a tree on the other bank. "Not my fault that I can't get that stupid show out of my head whenever I even think about Venus." "Wait you don't like _Sailor Moon_?" Seamus asked questionably. "I thought that with that 'Oven-Mitt' you keep pining about, you would be into that kind of show." Suddenly Seamus was yanked off his feet and found himself staring into a shark-like grin. "Thank you for volunteering." Marie then hurled Seamus fifty meters through the air into the frigid depths of the Black lake.

The three kids watched from the shore as Seamus landed with a momentous "SPLASH!" Marie wiped her hands together, a content smile on her face. "Ah, I love productive anger management." Dean walked over to Seamus's dropped bottle of pumpkin juice, muttering scathingly. "It's not like it's not reasonable to make that assumption with you." "Oh yeah, a punk like me watching some girly girly show about vapid feminene girls in those outfits. Please." Dean quirked his eyebrow. "Didn't you carve D.D. and Marie on every desk, in every classroom in the school." "NOBODY CAN PROVE THAT WAS ME!" Dean rolled his eyes and took a swing from the bottle.

"Where are Harry, Ron and Hermione? Are they still at Hagrid's?" Neville asked. Marie got more contemplative. "No. They went to the library to try to do some research on something Hagrid accidently told us. Something about Nicolas Flamel and something he did with Dumbledore." Dean and Neville looked both confused and concerned. Usually Harry and Ron wouldn't be caught dead in a library if they could help it. "Why on earth would you guys be trying to find out who Nicolas Flamel is?" Dean asked. Marie looked over at Neville, a look of doubt on her face. "Hey Neville, remember that giant three headed dog in the forbidden corridor on the third floor?" "Pfffft!" "WHAT!?" Marie turned to the waterfront after hearing the second. Seamus had apparently returned from his unintended dip to hear her question and was now staring at her in bug eyed shock while Dean had devolved into a coughing fit. "*cough cough*What do you *cough* mean there's a three headed dog in the *cough cough* third floor corridor?" "No, nix that. WHY is there a three headed dog in the third floor corridor? And more importantly, HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS?!"

Marie looked timidly over at Neville's snow white face. "Uh heh heh heh. Ooops?" "Ooops? Ooops! I think not telling us that there's a cerberus THAT COULD KILL US being in the school and nobody telling us about it is more than just a simple OOOPS!" Seamus screamed. Marie smashed her forehead into Seamus's, lightning bouncing between their eyes. "Hey, it's not like we went out of our way to discover what is in there. We found this out completely by accident!" "And you didn't think that it might be a good idea to tell the rest of us about what's in there?!" "Oh sure, cause mass hysteria and panic by telling the school that there's a cerberus on the third floor guarding a trap door and the only thing stopping it from getting to the rest of the school is the fact that it's too big to fit through a wooden door with a locking charm!" "Is that supposed to make me feel better!?" "Oye, wankers." The two of them turned to Dean. "WHAT?!" Dean withstood the category 2 storm that washed over him with a stone expression on his face. "What's this about a trap door?" he asked calmly.

Marie slapped her forehead while Seamus glared at Dean in indignation. "What does that have to do with anything?" "Because it's why the dog is here!" Marie screamed. "Do either of you remember that Gringotts break in a few months ago?" Seamus and Dean looked confused, but Neville's eyes widened. "Are you saying that whatever was in there was moved to the school?" Marie nodded. "The paper said that the vault that was broken in had been emptied earlier that day. The only way a vault could've been emptied would've been if there had been barely anything in the vault to begin with." "And the only way that someone would've had a reason to break into a vault with barely anything in it would be because whatever was in there was either valuable enough to risk robbing from the goblins, or powerful enough that they'd want it for themselves." Dean finished in frightened realization. "Exactly," Marie stated, pointing to Dean as she did so. "In addition, Harry was there at the bank that same day with Hagrid and told me that they had went to a vault with nothing in there besides a 5 centimeter long package, which Hagrid removed from the vault on 'Hogwarts business.'" The three boys' eyes widened. "You, you think that whatever was in that package is guarded by the dog." Neville stammered. "Not just that it's here." Marie answered ominously. "But who's after it."

Seamus's glare returned, more pronounced than ever. "Snape," he spat. "Now I understand why he was trying to get rid of Harry today. It's because you guys are on to him." Marie nodded. "When Harry, Ron and I were going to get Hermione when the troll was attacking, we saw Sanpe had in the direction of the third floor. Why would a teacher go towards an area where the troll isn't, especially when he knows that said troll has been reported in the dungeons?" Dean, in a rage, threw the bottle into the lake. "That fuckin' bastard! He let the troll in just so he could try to steal what the dog was guarding!" "Luckily he failed." Marie remarked coldly. "The dog was able to give him a bloody leg for his troubles." Seamus spat. "Pity the dog didn't rip that leg off!" he growled. He whirled around on her. "How do you know he has a bloody leg anyway?" "Harry found him getting his leg treated by Filch and he told Filch about the dog as well." Seamus, now apocalyptic, grabbed a large rock and chucked it into the lake. "That slimy troglodyte! He's in on the whole thing as well! He probably let the troll in while Snape was in the great hall just to throw us off!" By now, everyone was in a foul mood. Even the kind, timid Neville, looked ready to help start a riot.

"Are the three of you willing to help?" Three resolute nods were given. "Good. I don't need you three to help us find out about Flamel. Hermione, Ron and Harry can work on that end and I'm planning to send a letter to someone that might find out about him for us. Instead, the four of us are going to make Snape's and Filch's lives as much of a living hell as we can." She picked a rock as large as her fist. "Snape tried to kill one of our friends, and his actions nearly killed another." She crushed the rock in her hand as easily as if it were an empty soda can, small pieces of gravel slipping out from her clenched fist. "I think it's time he finds out what happens when you get on the wrong side of a Kanker."

** God this took so long. Looking at this script from my laptop, this thing is about just more than fifteen pages long. I just keep building and building it up until it reached this point. I'm going to take a short break from the main story, so the next chapter will be an omake. I'd also like to thank my reviewer for what he said about my writing, so I'm going to try to deviate as much as I can from the stories plot beats as I can, so there will only be one trip to the mirror of erised in the next Hogwarts chapter. As for the setting change from 91'-92' to 07'-08', I have an idea that I want to work with that I feel would benefit from it. I'll see you soon and thanks for checking this out. Catch ya later.**


	17. Ron discovers the wonders of Thanksgivin

** Ah, a playful omake. This should be fun, getting away from the drama of the core story. What will it be about? Well just read the chapter and you'll find out. Now, my life is fairly static right now. I failed to get a job as a barista at Barnes & Noble but I still have applications to work as a sales associate in the system that I hope they see soon. I've also watched Gunsmith Cats recently and it's great. Good characters, great action with a competently told, if simple story. You can find all three episodes of the OVA on youtube right now if you want to see it and I highly recommend it. I also saw Akira again. Still as confused and overstuffed and insane as I remember it from when I watched it in that Japanese Cinema class I took in college, with so many themes and ideas but with not enough time to deeply explore them all. You can also find it on youtube with the original 90's dub with you want a few laughs or just want to admire the art direction. But until then, on with the show. Oh, before I forget, I am an American and the topic I'm working with is based on an American holiday, so I apologize in advance if you don't get what it's about. I do not own **_**Harry Potter**_** or **_**Ed, Edd & Eddy**_**. Those are owned by J.K. Rowling, AT&T and Warner Media.**

**Ron Weasley discovers the wonders of Thanksgiving**

"I'm not going, you can't make me!" "I don't care what you want, you're going to class even if I have to drag the couch all the way done to Transfiguration myself!" Ron and Harry watched the scene before them in confused bemusement. Hermione, fully garbed in her school uniform, was trying to pry Marie, who was still dressed in her night clothes, from the couch. While Marie's vice-like grip had dug into the couch, Hermione's determination for education had given her a sudden influx of strength, causing pieces of fabric and cotton to spill out from the tears made from Marie's fingers slowly being yanked further and further from the back of the couch. "Um, can anybody explain to me what's going on here?" Harry asked. Eliza Runcorn, who had been reading in a nearby chair, replied without looking up from the page. "Marie apparently thought that we'd have a week off of class because it's the end of November. When Hermione told her otherwise, she decided to go on strike as a student and refused to leave the common room. As you can see now, the debate is reaching its conclusion." The sound of torn fabric, the yelp of surprise and a resounding crash caused all three of them to wince.

The three of them looked over at where the crash came from. Marie had crashed into the wall, pieces of torn wallpaper and tapestry littering the ground beneath the hole she had bore next to the fireplace. Her one visible eye spun in a corked circle and a dopey smile squiggled its way across her face. Harry and Ron went over to her and grabbed her arms. "Marie, I know you don't want to go to class, but you still have to get dressed if you want to have breakfast." Ron expressed as he and Harry stained to pull Marie out of the wall. With a stretching sound of a rubber band, Marie was pulled further and further away from the wall. A snap echoed through the room as Marie detached from the wall, flew out of Ron and Harry's arms, toppled them to the floor, slammed into the other wall, and then tumbled head first into a nearby rubbish bin.

Harry and Ron climbed back to their feet, sporting several bruises on their faces. "Merlin I hope the writer doesn't put us into more slapstick scenes anytime soon." Ron muttered as he rubbed a bruise on his left eye. "Doubtful, though I think he doesn't plan to do it often. Something about it messing with the consistency of the tone of the story." Harry replied as he fixed the bent wires of his glasses. "Hey," Ron asked as he looked around the room. "Where's Hermione?" "Can someone help?" A voice croaked as a bent arm stuck through the new architectural feature in the wall. "I'm in desperate need of assistance." The two of them quickly sprinted over to the hole in the wall and pulled Hermione out from underneath the rubble. "Thank you boys." she mumbled, bits of limestone sticking out of her bushy hair.

"Clunk. Clunk." The three of them turned back to a corner of the room, where their friend was stuck in the rubbish bin and was bouncing around the common room and banging into the walls and desks. Fred and George, who had just come down the stairs from the boys dorms, took a look at the four of them and chuckled. "Gred, I dare say that our icky Ronniekins and his friends have decided to form their own comedy trope." "Too true Forge, though I think they still need to improve their act a bit. Slapstick comedy was so last century." An angry muffled shout came from the depths of the rubbish bin as Marie tumbled over and started rolling around on the floor. Fred and George smirked. "Though I will admit Forge that Marie's piece of interpretive dance is quite revolutionary." "Indeed, truly she is the Renaissance artist of our time, skilled in many different fields and talents." "Guys, can you two please stop being jackasses and help her out of there?" Ron asked in tired exasperation. "Language little brother." Fred remarked playfully, draping his hand over his forehead in a fake faint. "What would our mother say if she found that you speak such vulgar words?" The two of them chuckled until George let off a pained "Ooofff." Marie had regained her footing and rammed into his sternum, forcing him to the floor. The trash can with legs jumped up in down with rage, the clangs echoing as loudly is her muffled shouts. "Okay, okay, hold your knickers." Fred said pleadingly. Gripping the edges of the bin, how tugged and tugged until Marie came out of the bin, covered in black and blue ink on her face and neck and with bits of broken quill tangled in her hair, with a resounding "POP!"

"Thank you my shining heroes." Marie snipped sarcastically. She plucked a piece of eagle calamus from the area above her left ear as she let out a bitter sigh. "Stupid British education practices. Not allowing us a fall break." she muttered. Hermione's eye twitched in irritation. "Marie, how many times do I have to tell you, Thanksgiving is an American holiday. You go to a school in Great Britain. Therefore, WE DON'T CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING!" she ranted. Ron and his brothers looked at the two curiously. "What's Thanksgiving?" Ron asked. Marie blinked, dumbfoundedly, while Hermione gave an exasperated sigh. "It's an American holiday designed to celebrate the survival of one of the earliest colonies. Apparently, the American school system lets their students have a week off of school every fourth week of November so that they could celebrate it." she scoffed. "Waste of time if you ask me." Unfortunately for her, nobody else seemed to agree with her as the other people in the room that had been listening in on the conversation or had been part of the conversation. "A week without school, that would be nice." Lavender Brown remarked wistfully. "Yeah, no Snape to deal with, no needing to go up to the astronomy tower in the early hours of the morning, not having to deal with Binns or Quirrell. That would be nice." Parvarti agreed. Hermione's head flicked around the room, her face plastered in disbelief. "Oh come on! None of you even know what the holiday is about, let alone how it's celebrated!" she shouted. Eliza, finding this more interesting than her book, closed it with a loud "SNAP!" "Okay then." She turned in her seat so that she could look at Marie over her shoulder. "Okay then Kanker, what is your holiday about?"

A few beads of sweat started to go done Marie's face as the entirety of the common room, about 2/3rd's of all of Gryffindor house watched her in rapt attention. "Well, well, it's, uh, it's about…" she stammered, her eyes filling with panic. 'Oh God, I've never had to do public speaking before. How on earth does that blonde bitch that Oven-Mitt and every other guy in the neighborhood fantasize over do it so well.' She heard a snap coming from next to her left ear. "Hey, Marie." It was Seamus. "Just take your time and relax." Marie nodded dimly, "Yeah, okay, okay. *inhale* *exhale*. Right." She looked at the crowd and dragged her hand through her bangs. "Look, I don't really pay much attention to this holiday. To me it's just a week off from school, two football games and an elementary school pageant I took part in when I was six. But to others it's more significant to them, especially those that tend to have more money than my family does." "Why's that?" Ron asked curiously. "Because a major part, hell the main part of the holiday, revolves around the thanksgiving feast." A growl roared throughout the room. Ron blushed as the rest of the room chuckled, which helped ease Marie's nerves.

"All right, the basic story goes is that there were this group of people that didn't like the Church of England and wanted to reform it. The King, who was head of the Church of England, didn't like their opinions as he saw it as antimonarchist, so he excommunicated them, that means threw them out of, the Church of England and persecuted them to the point where they were driven into exile. This group, known as the Puritans, tried to find a more tolerant land on the continent, but everybody was busy getting caught up in something called the Thirty Years War (long story that involves several different nations, succession disputes, and people being thrown out of windows) so they decided to leave for North America. After months at sea and nearly blowing up one of their ships, they landed in modern day Massachusetts when they started to run out of beer in 1620. Unfortunately, they landed in November and in the winter that followed about half of them died. Even worse, when spring came, they found that the sandy soil was not suitable for growing European crops and so it was looking likely that their new home would quickly become their new graveyard."

"So how did they survive?" Neville asked. Marie grimaced. "Well you see, luckily for them and unluckily for the people that originally lived there, a massive smallpox epidemic had hit the area a few years earlier that wiped out most of the native tribes in the area and severely weakened the rest. Deciding that a peaceful coexistence was in their best interests, one of the tribes, the Wampanoag, sent a delegation led by Squanto, the only survivor of the epidemic that wiped out his tribe because he was in England at the time, to help the settlers. They showed the settlers how to plant maize in the sandy soil and get them to grow by adding fish to increase nutrients. By the end of the year, they had a bountiful harvest and celebrated with a feast with their new allies. And that was the first thanksgiving. Ever since around 1863 when it was made a national holiday, people would join together with friends and family in remembrance of all the good times they had and their hopes for the future." Her face turned bitter. "Course my mother is an only child, I never knew my father, my uncle died shortly after I was born and my grandparents either disowned my dad or died before I was five, so there was literally no family to spend time with and the most we could afford for food was some cured ham, some toast, a can of cranberry sauce and two cans of baked beans. The only reason I or my sisters ever cared about the holiday was because we could sleep in during the week."

Most of the common room were satisfied, if a little uncomfortable with Marie's answer. Some of the smarter students were even wondering what smallpox was. But Ron wasn't focused on that. "What food is usually served at Thanksgiving anyway?" he asked, a bit of saliva wetting his lips. Marie gave a weary sigh. "Do try to take this with a grain of salt, because this is just a perception I put together from thanksgiving special and gazing through my neighbors windows but from what I can tell the feast is centered around the turkey. It's usually about 6 to 10 kilos in size and stuffed with this thing called stuffing, which is a combination of dried bread crumbs, celery, onions and eggs." As she described this, Fred and George took out a notepad and quill and started jotting down notes and Ron's mouth fell agape, droll starting to drip from his tongue. "Paired with it is usually mashed potatoes with butter, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, steamed green beans, cranberry sauce and buttered rolls." (Ron had started to salivate heavily) "Sometimes meals also include glazed ham, cornbread, baked beans, grilled zucchini and squash and bowls of butternut squash soup, apple chestnut soup and salad." (A large puddle had started to pool at Ron's feet and spread across the common room) "And of course there's dessert, with apple, pumpkin and cherry pies, banana bread, apple crumb cake, chocolate mousse and many different flavors of ice cream."

At this moment she noticed that she was now waist deep in water. She looked around the room and saw the source of the problem. The saliva pouring out of Ron's mouth was tumbling from it like a small waterfall. Furniture and small wall alcoves had become islands where several students squeezed on top of them. The couch alone held 20 people on its small 2 meter by 1 meter surface. Some of the students however couldn't care less, as Fred and George were still writing while standing in the small lake and Eliza Runcorn was practicing her back stroke. Marie, used to the occasions where the sink or the shower had burst, just calmly walked across the room, opened up the portrait hole and started to let the water drain from the tower. Once the water had receded to about ankle height, which was when it could no longer reach the edge of the small landing in front of the portrait hole, she walked over to the twins who were still writing on their notepad, ten pages of which had been flipped so that they could write on the back.

"What are you two doing and where should I be so that I could avoid the back lash?" Fred and George looked over at her for a split second before refocusing on the notepad, two quills going across it. "Never you mind." George mumbled. "Let's just say that we have an in with the kitchen staff and leave it at that. When is Thanksgiving celebrated again?" Marie quirked her eyebrow in confusion. "Every fourth Thursday of November, why?" The two looked up from their paid, devious grins on their faces. "Bit of a surprise, you'll just have to wait till the 22nd to find out." Marie was about to press what they were about to do, but was interrupted by Percy. "What's going on in here!?" He asked from the portrait hole. "Water has been going down the stairs all the way to the entrance hall, so who busted the shower room again?"

Most of the rest of the week did not go particularly well for Marie. First, Neville melted her cauldron, covering them both in hair brighting potion and getting their hair bleached a respective pale blue and white. Then she had been accidently knocked off a floor landing just before one of the moving staircases arrived. She ended up falling three stories before smashing into one of the staircases below, leaving an imprint of her body there for five hours and suffering a torn kidney and smashing her collar bone (again). After getting healed, she ended up running afoul of a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs when she threw a helmet in frustration that ruined their game of gobstones, getting all of them squirted. The resulting argument and fight that followed put all five of them in the hospital wing with several broken bones, a few black eyes and, in Marie's case, a dislocated hip. When Professor's Sprout and McGonagall were told what happened by several witnesses, they had gotten detention spreading manure amongst the plants in all the greenhouses. She returned to the common room at 1 in the morning smelling of cow dung and covered in several lacerations some a fight she had with the venomous tentacula. Tuesday wasn't much better than Monday. Seamus struck her in the eye with a stinging hex during Charms and she had to go to the hospital wing again when it started hemorrhaging. Lack of sleep from the previous night caused her to fall asleep during Defense Against the Dark Arts, causing Quirrell of all people to give her a detention on Wednesday, which she spent putting new stain on the classroom desks. This combined with her previous detention caused her to get drowned in homework, all of which she didn't finish until just before Astronomy. Already tired, she didn't notice that Pavarti had inked the inner lining of her telescope. When she did (thanks to a few of the Ravenclaws chuckling), she was barely prevented from hurling Pavarti off the Astronomy tower. By the time she woke up on Thursday, she just wanted the week to be done.

'At least whatever force governs the universe decided to give me a break today. Professor Binns first thing in the morning followed by a free period.' She yawned, dark purple bags under her eyes as big as quarters. 'Still, double Herbology really took a lot out of me. I don't think I can…' She started to collapse in a dead faint, but was grabbed by both Neville and Ron before her knees went out from under her. "Sweet Merlin how much does she weigh?" Ron complained as he struggled to carry the comatose trailer punk. "Tell me about it. She must be all muscle under her robes." Neville grunted as he and Ron dragged Marie down the stairs from the Gryffindor tower towards the Great hall. "Have to feel sorry for her though, Professor Sinistra kept her back for an hour after class to discuss her anger issues and she didn't get back to the tower until 3 in the morning and she worked on her homework the night before until midnight. She's barely had any sleep at all this week." They dragged her down the flights of stairs. Their muscles strained as they struggled to navigate the moving staircases, sweat glistening off their foreheads as they carried nearly one hundred pounds of human flesh and bone down the entrance hall steps toward the large double doors to the Great hall. "Hopefully some food will wake her up." Ron expressed as he pushed the doors open. He looked in. His eyes glazed over and dropped his unconscious friend on the floor, jolting her awake. "Ow, what the hell?" She mumbled as she grasped her aching head. She got up and fell into a state of disbelieved amazement.

The Great hall was filled with a cornucopia of food. Bushels of turkey, tubs of mashed and sweet potatoes, pyramids of butter corn and maize, baskets of buttered rolls and cornbread and mountains other delicacies. As more students started to come up or down from their common rooms, a large crowd of ravenous teenagers and preteens started to crowd around the entrance, joining Marie and Ron in their zombie-like state. Neville backed up away from the doors in terror, not noticing two other people until he bumped into them. "They look hungry there don't they Gred?" "Bit of an understatement really Forge, they look like they bit lost at sea for weeks without food." Neville turned around and saw the twins grinning impishly. "You're responsible for all this?" He asked tentatively. "Why of course Nev." one of them answered. "After Marie told us about what Thanksgiving is, we just couldn't let such a fantastic occasion go un celebrated just because we're not a bunch of Yanks." He then produced a bell from his robes." "George, would you care to do the honors?" "Indeed, lets just these piggies to the trough."

With the ringing of the bell hundreds of students rushed towards the food as if they were settlers trying to claim land in Oklahoma. Within less than a minute the Great hall had descended into chaos. Students were gorging themselves on peas and beans, fighting over drumsticks and pieces of pineapple and slobbering cranberry sauce and tomato soup, pieces of furniture and silverware was flying across the room and in a few places several brawls had broken out. Marie in particular was swinging a drumstick as if it were a mace, with several older Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw lying unconscious on the floor. Ron was shoving entire slices of ham into his teeth while Seamus bit his arm with the strength of a crocodile. Crabbe and Goyle were throwing people into walls and benches while eating spoonfuls of marshmallow sweet potatoes. Any source of respectability they had had been lost in a wave of animalistic savagery, their reasoning asleep, producing nightmarish caricatures of humanity driven by the desire to consume.

Neville caught Hermione out of the corner of his eye, her hair even more disheveled. Her eyes were wide with no hint of intellect, her body looking wain and wild. In her arms was a roasted succling pig. With carnivorous fierceness she tore through the pig's snout, then the ears and then the rest of the head. Dark pink blood and pale yellow grease dripped down her chin and her fingers, bits of skin, tendon, sinew, vein and artery scattering across the limestone. Neville took a step back, the sound of his foot across the floor startling the hunched creature. She looked up, still grasping the torso of the pig. She watched, her brown eyes staring at him in dazed, hungry indifference as she tore another chunk out of the pig.

Unable to look at the mockery of his friend any longer, Neville turned back to the twins. Behind them he saw Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape watching the scene before them in shocked disgust and Dumbledore trying to hide a smile behind his hand. "WHAT IN THE NAMES IS GOING ON HERE!?" McGonagall shouted. "Now now Professor McGonagall, nothing unusual is going on here." Dumbledore said placatingly as McGonagall started to turn white with rage. "It just looks like the students have gotten too into the dinner tonight." McGonagall whirled around and glared. "Too into dinner?! I think that's a severe understatement! Mr. Thomas and Miss Brown are having a knife fight over a bowl of salad, Miss Bones is eating mashed potatoes with her hands, Mr. Boot is drinking french onion soup as if it were punch and even the calmer students like Miss Peakes are stabbing their forks into other peoples hands! This isn't over indulgence this as gluttoneos riot!" "I know, isn't it wonderful!" The twins said, their eyes glistening like stars as they watched with massive grins carved onto their faces. McGonagall rubbed her forehead in tired exasperation. "Of course, of course it's you two. How could it be anyone else but you two?" She sighed bitterly before she turned to them, several new wrinkles developing on her forehead. "The question is, why did you do it?" Fred and George smiled faux nobly. "Why, to give a wave of celebration and comfort to a dear friend of ours." Fred answered. "She was feeling rather homesick recently about some American holiday, so we decided to bring the holiday to her!" George continued. "So we decided to make this feast for her and after we told the kitchen staff what we had planned, they were more than happy to help." McGonagall grinded her teeth together, looking as if she were about to burst a coronary.

"Professor McGonagall, I don't believe we can say that Mr Weasley or his brother can be stated to have done something wrong." Dumbledore interceded. "All they did was create a feast to cheer up their friend." They looked over at the tribal warfare occuring in the Great hall, watching as a group of sixteen Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Slytherins tore apart a massive 15 kilo turkey like a pack of wolves. "And while the students seem to have taken the celebrations a little too far, they haven't done any lasting damage and the twin couldn't have predicted that they would act this way. They shouldn't be punished for their enjoyment." "Be that as it may Professor Dumbledore," Snape drawled. "The Weasley twins admitted that they had talked to the kitchen staff to get this feast ready. The only way they could've done that is by entering the kitchens themselves, which no student is allowed to do." He glared at the beaming faces of the Weasley twins. "25 points from Gryffindor. You will see me for detention tomorrow night." He left with a swish of his camp. "If you're willing to join me McGonagall, I'll be having my dinner tonight at the Three Broomsticks." McGonagall looked surprised and confused, but then she turned back towards the Great hall and watched as Harry Potter started drinking an entire pitcher of apple cider from a funnel while a crowd of students from every house were chanting "CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!" Without a word, she turned and followed Snape.

Dumbledore chuckled again before turning back to the three Gryffindors. "I would suggest you try to get your fill. We don't want you to miss out on this feast." He then took a drumstick that had been forgotten in the chaos. "Happy Thanksgiving boys."

** I did not think an omake chapter would be this long. Though I am happy about how it turned out. For my more artistically inclined readers, you might've seen my references to Francisco Goya's **_**Saturn eating his children **_**and **_**The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters**_** through imagery or dialogue. He is one of my favorite painters and his work is very influential as he basically invited the Romantic movement in art. As for my opinions on Thanksgiving, it's fine. Food's good don't get me wrong but I see my family almost all the time. Sometimes, in Shakespeare's words, I dearly wish we could become better strangers. Also we always have to watch the Detroit Lions (the sports equivalent of a continuously busting septic tank) and the Dallas Cowboys (which I hate. Go New York Giants), so bit of a slog overall. Hope you liked this omake, I'll try to make the next one shorter. Thanks for reading and catch you later.**


	18. Strange Correspondence

** I do not own **_**Harry Potter**_** or **_**Ed, Edd n' Eddy, **_**they are owned by J.K. Rowling, AT&T and Warner Media (sorry if this is a little short, I couldn't think of anything to say).**

**Strange Correspondence**

**It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go**

**Take a look at the five and ten, glistening once again**

**With candy cane and silver lanes aglow!**

The rich crooning of Bing Crosby drifted through the bedroom of a certain sock hat wearing child prodigy. The early December snow had hit Peach Creek, Wisconsin hard. School had to be canceled for the first day of it while the trucks fought to keep the roads clear. While they were lucky to get just snow, most of the rest of the state had gotten sleet as well, freezing the roads. While most of the Cul-de-Sac would consider this to be a time to stay inside with a roaring fire and a hot chocolate watching old films like _It's a Wonderful Life_ or_ White Christmas_, Eddy saw it as the perfect opportunity for another one of his scams. 'Why do I keep getting myself involved in these?' Double-D thought miserably as Eddy showed a diagram for his latest scam idea. It was called _Eddy's Winter Wonderland_, a miniature ski resort complete with a mini restaurant. Apparently Eddy had found a series of bare hills about three miles outside of Lemon Brook that were large enough and steep enough for Eddy to utilize and with how expensive ski resorts were, he saw an opportunity to exploit the market. Never mind that barely anyone in the area knew how to ski or snowboard, that they only had five hills, that both the Rhinelander and the Granite Peak Ski Resorts were only an hour to 90 minutes away, the fact that they needed a license to operate lifts, none of them could drive a motor vehicle or that Double-D was the only one that had been trained to conduct emergency medical services, he was going to get those quarters and those jawbreakers somehow.

"Now I was able to pick up some clothes poles and some old crane cable from the junkyard so if we get started on the winch we should be able to get in business by the weekend. I can already hear the quarters jaggling." Eddy declared excitedly. "Oh Eddy, will we be able to get buttered toast and potato skins as well?" Ed asked dimly, a gleeful smile spread from ear to ear on his face. Eddy wrapped his arm around Ed's shoulder, a smug grin on his face. "Of course we will ya big lug. This is the most foolproof idea we've had yet!" Double-D rolled his eyes. "Eddy, do you even know how to ski or snowboard?" Eddy froze and then turned to give a slight glare at Double-D. "Why do I need to know that? I'm going to be working at the grill and the ticket office." Double-D restrained himself from pinching his nose bridge. "Eddy, not many people in the neighborhood know how to ski or snowboard. Someone is going to have to teach them." Eddy rubbed his thumb and index finger against his chin. A lightbulb appeared over his head, followed by an excited grin. "You're right Sock head!" He then reached and grabbed a pair of skis and ski poles from out of hammer space. "You're great at teaching, you can do it!" he exclaimed as he shoved his pile into Double-D's arms.

Double-D stumbled back, partly from the force to Eddy's push and partly from shock. "Me Eddy?! But I've never gone skiing before!" he conveyed panically. "Mother and Father never had the time to teach me!" "So just read it in a book and practice." Eddy replied uncaringly, a sly, satisfied grin on his face. "You have the entire week to figure out how to ski. Ed and I will focus on setting everything up." "That doesn't reassure me in the slightest, Eddy." Double-D muttered. "Oh come on, when have I ever steered you wrong? Don't answer that." Double-D sighed as he put the winter gear in the corner of the room. "Okay, but even if I do learn how to ski by the end of the week, we have nobody to teach anybody that would want to snowboard. And don't say you're going to have Ed do it, you know what happened the last time you used him as a tutor." Eddy glowered, remembering how he used Ed as a tutor after he somehow won the spelling bee. "Well what do you suggest Sock head?" "Well, we could ask Kevin to help. He's been snowboarding for years and is part of the sking club." "No way! I'm not giving Shovel chin any cut of our profits!" Eddy exclaimed angrily. "Besides, why would he help us, he hates us!" 'More like he hates you and is annoyed by Ed.' Double-D thought, though he didn't voice it.

"Look guys! It's the giant owl from the outer moons!" Ed shouted gleefully as he looked out the window at the dark purple sky and dusty grey snow that dominated the night. "It's come to grant us wishes! Let's let him in!" "Wait Ed!" Eddy and Double-D shouted as he slammed open the window, letting a cold burst of air to rush into the room. "Dang it Ed, are you trying to freeze us to death?!" Eddy exclaimed angrily. A large great grey owl rushed into the room, the tight squeezing through the window scattered a few feathers around the room. Double-D quickly closed the window and grabbed a dustpan and a hand broom. "Ed, can you take that animal outside before it molts more feathers? Mother would be apocalyptic if she found out I had animals in the house." Ed frowned glumly, idly stroking the owl that had perched on his arm. "But Double-D, he won't grant us our wishes if we chase him away." Eddy scoffed. "Get real Ed. Everyone knows that all owls do is dump exposition and annoy you with things you already know." He then glared at the owl and saw that the owl was also glaring at him, as if he understood the insult. "Freakin' bird." he grumbled. He looked away and saw that something had been dropped on Double-D's desk.

'Hmm, what's this?' he wondered as he picked up a large envelope. It was a strange envelope. There was no return address, no stamp, there wasn't really a sending address on it. The only thing on the envelope was _Eddward Vincent, Peach Creek Wisconsin _written in untidy script. Black ink blots dotted the envelope, as if someone was trying to use an inkwell pen for the first time. The only thing that could seem personal about it was what seemed to be a misshapen dot in Double-D's last name. 'Who would be writing to Double-D, yet not leave a return address? It's not from his grandmother, I've seen her handwriting and she's very particular in the return address. His Mom and Dad would leave sticky notes if they wanted to communicate with him and I don't know anybody that he had been seeing at school outside of our neighbors and the people of the chess and science club he hangs out with sometimes.' He squinted closely at the writing. After a few seconds, his eyes widened. The dot of the i wasn't an i, it was a heart.

A smirk grew across Eddy's face. "Hey Ed! Come look at this!" Ed stretched his neck completely across the room to look over Eddy's shoulder. "What is it Eddy?" Eddy shoved the envelope under Ed's nose. "Double-D's got a letter! And it looks like it's from some lady love." he said in some combination of mocking sauvness. Double-D, who had just finished throwing away the broken feathers and down fluff, was confused by this. "What are you talking about Eddy?" Eddy turned to him with a smug smirk on his face, his eyes dancing in merriment. "Why this letter of course, the one with a heart in your name." His finger tapped the i dot in Vincent. He chuckled at Double-D's redding face. "What? But I've never even seen this letter before." he conveyed as he took the envelope from his friend's hand, staring at the front of it in bewilderment. "How on earth did this even get in here?" 'Did May leave this when I was at chess club earlier today?'

"Who cares?" Eddy declared as he put his arm around Double-D's shoulders. "You've been holding out on us, you stud. Looks like those lessons from the Edmistro have finally paid off." Double-D's face was now as red as tomato paste. "Please don't say that Eddy, I get enough grief from Kevin over last year's spring fling as it is." Ed then grabbed Double-D in a crushing hug, nearly cracking three of his ribs. "Oh Double-D, don't let the wicked succubi of the netherrealm take you from us! They'll drag you to a monster school and get you involved with unfunny romance antics!" Ed blubbered, tears rushing down his face as he sobbed. "Uh, Ed, I'm not going anywhere. I don't even know who sent this. And even if I did, I wouldn't leave you like that." Ed sniffed and looked at Double-D with hope glistening in his eyes. "Really?" Double-D gave a small smile as Ed released him from his grip. "Of course Ed. I'm not planning to go anywhere anytime soon." A massive grin spread across Ed's face before he grabbed Eddy and Double-D and brought them into a group hug. "Hurray! The three amigos stay together and surge forward into the future like the space vikings of Diatron-5." "ED! Can't breathe here ya big idiot!" Eddy screamed.

Ed let them go, each of them crashing to the ground wheezing. "I swear Ed, you've got to learn how to control that strength of yours." Eddy grumbled as he cracked his spine back into place. Double-D himself rolled his now sore shoulder, feeling the phantom burst of pain from a few months prior. "Indeed Ed. I for one would not like to have my shoulder dislocated." 'Again.' he thought. He had never told his friends what had happened in his last contact with Marie and he wasn't planning anytime soon if he could help it. Too many unwanted questions. With an apologetic look from Ed, he walked over to his desk and removed a pen knife. With a quick flick of the wrist he had opened the envelope. Out of it came two items. The first was a folded piece of parchment that had been folded rectangularly four times so that it could fit in the envelope. The other was what seemed to be a polaroid photo, about 9"x9". Deciding to look at the supposed photo later, Double-D opened up the missive. He froze, his pupils shrinking to the size of pins and his entire body turning ash white. Eddy watched this, his concern growing as Double-D seemed to stop breathing. "You okay there sock head?" Double-D didn't respond, his eyes fixed on the page. He removed the letter from Double-D's slack grip and read the first line.

_Hey Ovenmitt!_

At that single opening line, Eddy saw red. "Kanker!" he growled, his teeth clenched so tightly together that the last of his baby teeth cracked and fell from his mouth. "Ed, destroy this." Ed, a firm and resolute look upon his face, saluted. He took the letter from Eddy's hands and opened his mouth to eat it. Unfortunately, Double-D, while still in a slight catatonic state, was still aware of the natural world. When he saw Ed about to eat an object that wasn't food, he reacted on instinct and ripped the letter from his mouth. "Ed, how many times do I have to tell you not to eat things that aren't food?" he asked snippedly. "But Double-D, I wasn't eating a mattress this time." Ed replied morosely. "It doesn't matter if it was a mattress or not." Double-D said, his nose lifted up in the air in a dignified manner. "It's the principal of the matter that you need to observe." Eddy seethed. "Can we please get back to getting rid of that thing?" Double-D looked down at the letter, glazing past the introductory line to the paragraph that followed.

_God it's been awhile hasn't it? It's been, what four months since we last talked? I hope you have been missing me, cause I've certainly been missing you! You'd definitely be a big help with all the homework I've been swamped with. You're a practical research wiz, I'm sure you could cut my time working on it by half. And speaking of research, I actually need some help with that. You see I'm working on this project with some friends of mine, we're supposed to choose a historical figure and do a paper on it. We decided to choose Nicholas Flamel on a lark and after we got to the library, we realized we had no idea where to look and the librarian wasn't much help either. Now you're probably wondering 'Why don't you just use the internet?' Well you see, the school I go to is in northern Scotland. Like, as far north as you can get on the mainland Scotland. So yeah, no internet in this neck of the world. So I was wondering if you could do some quick research on the computer and send it to me, as the paper has to be done by the end of winter break. Don't worry about giving me an extensive essay on it, just a few general pointers to send us in the right direction are fine. _

A sigh of relief escaped from Double-D. While there was a bit of catty flirting in the letter, it was a mostly reasonable request for information it seemed. It also looked that from the following paragraphs (which just described a bit of her time from her school and complaining about the exhaustion she was suffering, the weather and some of the teachers, with that Snape fellow sounding particularly unpleasant) that it was just an update on how she was doing. It was surprisingly normal.

"Gentlemen, I don't believe we have to worry about this too much about this. It's just a simple research request, nothing more." "What!?" Eddy screeched. "But it's from a Kanker! Your Kanker!" "And all she's asking for is some assistance with a research paper. There is literally nothing untold about it." "But!...But!" Eddy sputtered, trying to find some reason to detract from it. "But Double-D," Ed stated helpfully (for Eddy at least). "What if the evil sorceress of the dark crypt cast a spell on the paper, compelling you to do unholy deeds?" "Now that's just silly Ed." Double-D chuckled. "What, you think that Marie would be able to cast magic on me, or that there's some potion that could affect how I act just by smelling it? There's no such thing as magic and Marie has no way to afford that kind of aphrodisiac." He patted Ed's head and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't you worry."

With his friends somewhat placated, Double-D went over to his Dell Optiplex GX620, a gift that he had been given when he had turned 11 back in March. "Besides," Double-D reassured as he booted it up. "We don't have to worry about this for too long. I just need to print out the wikipedia article and send it back to her. Then we can throw the letter away and we could forget everything about it. Just as soon as Windows Vista boots up." The spinning blue circle indicating the loading of the admin screen spun continuously as the loading bar slowly filled. A minute went by. 25%. Three minutes. 31%. Eight minutes. 39%. Fifteen minutes. 46%. Twenty minutes. 41%. "Arghhhh! Come on you stupid thing!" Eddy shouted before slamming his fist down on the back of the harddrive. In an instant it jumped up to 100%. "Freakin' finally." he muttered as the home screen of Double-D's computer appeared (the atom structure of iodine imposed on a dark gray background) and Double-D scrolled over to the firefox icon at the bottom left of his desk top.

"Okay, Nicolas Flamel, Nicolas Flamel. God I hope nobody has inappropriately edited the page recently. Okay, here it is. Lets see, born in 1330, yadda yadda yadda. Oh fascinating, have to check that out later. Ah, good. Nothing seems inaccurate about what's in here." He scrolled up to the corner of the screen and printed out the page, the whining and spot-start screech of the printer next to it, the two pages of information coming out of the exit slot. "See, nothing untold or stressful involved. You really blew this out of proportion Eddy." Eddy huffed, crossing his arms like a disappointed child. He looked away, refusing to give Double-D any satisfaction on being right. He then spotted the second piece of paper that had fallen out of the envelope. He didn't notice it before, but now it piqued his curiosity. The paper was glossy and on the back was back scribble. He walked over to the desk and cautiously picked it up. '_I hope you enjoy my Christmas Present._ What?' He flipped it open and his eyes widened.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW THAT A KANKER WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" His shouts of combined exaltation and fury permeated throughout the room. "What is it Eddy?" Ed asked, both he and Double-D looking at him in concerned fright. Eddy stormed over to Double-D and shoved it under his nose. "Sockhead, look at this! Ed, check the envelope again! I don't put it out of her capabilities that she left something else in there!" Ed, his unibrow perched firmly on his head, saluted and shoved his head into the depths of the envelope. Double-D meanwhile took the paper from the red faced and shaking body that is his best friend. He gazed down at what was on what he had thought was a photo earlier and had his suspicions confirmed in probably the worst way possible.

The photo wasn't tasteless, thank heavens for that, but what was shown in it still pushed the boundaries. The photo showed Marie in a seductive pose, wearing a private school girls uniform. A grey sweater lay off to the side, suggesting that it had just been removed. The white, collared button down shirt hung loosely on her figure with the top two buttons unbuttoned. A red and gold tie was secured loosely under the collar, the knot placed underneath the highest secured button. Between the gap in the shirt he could see a pair of B sized breasts, which astonished him considering that Marie was nearly half a year younger than him. She was sitting in a kneeling pose, her visible eye gazing coyly at the camera, a shy looking smile on her face. One hand was on her face, its index finger resting on her lip, while the other hand was in front of her grey skirt.

"You see! That Kanker played you so that you could let your guard down again!" Eddy raged at Double-D's blushing face. "You can never trust them not to have some kind of ulterior motive. I bet you that she isn't even working on a paper and just made it up as an excuse." "I found something Eddy!" The two of them looked over to their friend, who had the envelope over his eyes. Two pieces of paper fell out from the envelope. Double-D picked up the pieces of paper, dreading the worst. One of the pieces of paper had a simple message of _For all the ones that you've missed_, and was covered in rogue red lipstick. The other paper was another letter, this one longer than the one that he had originally read.

_Hey, I hope you didn't think the other letter was what I really wanted to send you. Not that everything on that letter wasn't true, it was and I really need your help on the Nicolas Flamel thing. But I wanted to talk to you about somethings that I didn't want my friends to know about. I've been thinking about you alot. I know, big shock, but I'm serious. Everyday I have to focus on my homework, extracurricular activities, my painting, my new friends, anything just to get through the day. My thoughts keep going back to you in some way, whether it's Hermione's neuroticism and focus on her homework that reminds me of your intelligence and motherly attitude, Harry's shyness and kindness reminding me of yours or Neville's earnestness and passion for plants reminding me of your cactus. I am literally struggling not to think about you in some way._

_ I don't know what it is I feel for you. Is it lust? Love? Desire? I can hardly tell anymore. I know this isn't some simple school yard crush. Hear my soul speak, of the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly at your service. I love you more than words can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space and liberty. You are my goods, my chattel, you are my house, my household stuff, my field, my barn, my horse, my ox, my ass, my...everything. I know you don't believe me, but it's true. Imaging your gap toothed smile is what gets me through a rainy day, your intensity whenever you're working on one of Shorty's scams or on some science project inspires me to better myself when it comes to my school work and the way that you show kindness to others has made me want to improve myself as a person (not that I'm still not going to act like a Kanker sister when necessary, I'm not going to change myself into something I'm not)._

_ Now I know what you're thinking, 'If you think this, then why do you keep hurting myself and my friends, destroying my equipment, and practically molesting me against my will?' Well I can't say anything about my sisters, you'll have to ask them yourself (good luck getting anything out of Lee. When she doesn't want anyone to know her reasons behind doing something it's like pulling teeth) but really, I just don't really know how to approach you. I never really thought about how to talk to you, and the first impression that we made for each other wasn't really the best._

"Yeah no kidding, taking us into their house, giving us food and replacing our wet clothes all in an attempt to let our guard down. I'm sure that they still have our clothes." Eddy muttered bitterly. Double-D sighed. "Eddy, it's not like we were the best guests to begin with." "Does it matter? Even if we were the perfect guests they still would've done what they did." Tellingly, Double-D didn't have an answer for that.

_I mean it's not like I had anything to talk about with you. Science doesn't really interest me outside of Chemistry and Astronomy, the only Math that I like is Statistics, nonfiction doesn't interest me on any level outside of Art History, and I don't find discovering more knowledge just for the sake of knowledge a good use of my time. As for my own interests, I know you don't like sports, you're very disinterested in cars and I feel that I'll feel very dumb if I talk to you about art, mainly because I feel you'll know more about it than I will. And as an artist I find that kind of embarrassing. And now, I find myself in a position where even if I could find a way to talk to you about anything, this distance makes it nearly impossible. _

_ I'm struggling here. I've presented myself as someone who I feel like I'm not. I've been making an effort to get along with my roommates, I've made friends for the first time in my life, I've been mostly respectful to my teachers (not Snape though. He doesn't deserve it), and I've been making an effort to enjoy where I am. And there is this charm to it. I like the rustic nature of the place. The sun rising over the massive forest just off the school grounds and it setting through the small channel that connects the fjord to the sea is one of the most relaxing sights I've ever seen and being able to live inside of an actual castle is something that I never thought that I'd enjoy experiencing. I like looking at the paintings and the suits of armor, walking along the many hidden passages and watching the owls deliver the mail at breakfast every morning. But I miss alot of things back home. I miss the deciduous trees back home as they change their colors from green to red, yellow and brown. All we have here are conifers. I also miss the river. The Black Lake is nice, even having a giant squid living in it, but it doesn't have the swift moving waters that I liked washing over me. And of course, this is a castle, and they are kind of big on historical preservation, so no heater and no electricity outside of anything battery operated. So the only thing electrical that works here are the radios and I've had to rely on oil and gas lamps for light. Because of how traditional everything is here, I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of the 19th century. I'm actually surprised that we have hot water heaters, let alone modern plumbing. Though I'm certain that I'm going to find some old drop hole somewhere, considering that this school is more than 1,000 years old._

_ Apologizes, I started to go on a bit of a tangent there. But this whole place feels isolating. Tends to happen when you're the only American at a school for English kids. Maybe I'm just not used to the fact that I have to stay here until June. Whenever class time ends I half expect to see a school bus ready to take me back home at the base of the mountain. And I haven't found someone who's family either isn't already here, or is going to come here in the future (least not the ones that aren't only children). So, my thoughts turn to home (at least whenever I'm not busy). And I find myself facing a lot of regret. I didn't leave my mother or elder sister on good terms, and now that I have the time to look at the things I did to you objectively, I find myself cringing in disgust. How can I say that I love you when I essentially brutalize you? How can I have this high opinion of you, and yet degrade you worse than Kevin on a bad day? I just look back at what I've done, who I was and in most cases still am and, I just absolutely loathe her (God, maybe my time here has been affecting me more than I thought because I certainly wouldn't have thought this back in August). I'm not sure just what will happen when I come home. Maybe I'll fall back into a familiar pattern and learn nothing or maybe I'll turn over a new leaf. Maybe somewhere in the middle, I don't know. I wouldness be myself if I wasn't unpredictable, though in this case I'm not sure if that's a good thing. _

_ I hope Christmas is going well over there. Don't expect to see me around that time, I'm staying here. One of my friends' family are complete and utter a-holes and he's not leaving either, so I'm going to be helping him have an actual proper christmas this year. Try to enjoy it, I know I will (met a pair of twins that are the best pranksters I've ever met and I'm trying to convince them to take me on as their disciple). But seriously go wild, shove snow down Kevin's pants, drink alcoholic nog if you're feeling dangerous. Just get out of the house and do something stupid, you've done it plenty of times before. I'll see ya this summer and if you want me to write, well, send a reply back with the owl (I should ask Professor McGonagall if I could purchase a school bird, I really like this guy and I've seen him hanging out with Harry's bird, Hedwig, for the last few months. Harry and I could then be owl buddies). Have a Merry Christmas and don't let Ed eat any coal._

_Sincerely, Marie_

_P.S. Can you send me a copy of The Great Gatsby, or The Killer Angels? I promised Runcorn that I'd get her some American literature to check out._

Double-D put the letter down on the desk. That entire thing had left him exhausted, as if that letter had dropped a quarter ton anvil on his head. He sat down and put his head in his hands as he tried to dispel the weariness from his soul. Ed and Eddy looked over at him in uncertainty. He finally sighed. "What do you guys say to just take a break on the ski resort idea and walk around town for a bit?" he asked wearily. Ed and Eddy quietly nodded. The three of them got their coats and headed out into the evening cold, Ed leaving a small bowl of water out for the owl they had nearly forgotten about.

The sky was unusually bright in winter. The white undisturbed snow on the ground reflected the light that had slipped through the thick layer of clouds up above and had tinged the sky a hazy purple that was nearly orange. Even though it was nearly seven, the streets were devoid of anyone or anything, the only sound being the buzzing of the street lights that circled the cul-de-sac. There was a dead serenity that hung in the air and weighed heavily on the trio as they breathed the air. The air was crisp and sharp, almost painfully to breath as it cut through their throats and stabbed the inside of their lungs, driving their bodies awake, each breath's continuous attack forcibly bringing them to a kind of hyperawareness, making them more focused on the slightest brush of the wind, the haze of fuss on the horizon that gave the illusion of a dying light bulb, the crunch of snow at their feet that sounded like a combination of crushed chip bags and gravel. Their breath lay thick on the air, like a cloud of cigar smoke, following them as they trudged towards the bus station. The ride was as silent as the night itself, nobody on it willing to talk about what they had just read on the barren bus.

When they got to town, it felt as if they had entered an oasis that had sprung up in the desolate tundra. Lights of blue, orange, green and red were strung from lamp posts and store fronts. The smells of gingerbread and peppermint coffee wafted through the air and garlands hung from every door. It was uplifting as the trio walked through the crowds of shoppers, listening to them talk about the holidays that were two weeks away, their vacation plans and about the family members that they were going to see. They spent some time silently window shopping before Double-D entered a bookstore. Eddy scowled as he followed after him.

"What do ya think you're doing?" Double-D winced. "I'm just looking around." "You're actually going to get that book for her? Why on earth are you doing that?" Eddy growled. "It's not for her, it's for someone else." "Semantics. Why are you doing a favor for her anyway?" Double-D didn't really understand why either. Eddy had a point about not needing to purchase a book gift for Marie. In fact Double-D didn't even want to. But he also knew that Marie would likely keep hounding him until he did, whether by letter or through May. "So that I don't have to deal with the headache." Eddy grew thoughtful at this. "You're right. You shouldn't have to get more than one letter from her. Let's get this over with." Double-D was rather relieved that Eddy didn't press the issue and gave him a small smile. "Thank you Eddy. Now let's find Ed before he eats a bookshelf."

After persuading Ed that no, cookbooks do not contain real food, the three of them set out across the bookstore to see if they could find some of the American literature that Marie had asked for. Ed wandered over to the comic section, where Double-D saw him reading a copy of _All-Star Superman_ (his eyes flickering between reading the comic and glaring at the most recent edition of _All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder_. Double-D wondered why, but then again, he didn't really read comics), so he decided to leave him be. They initially tried looking through the romance section, but most of the works were from england and the ones they found from america were, let's say less than thrilling (Double-D in particular had to remind himself that arson was against the law after he finished skimming through _Blood and Chocolate_). So they abandoned that and decided to just focus on the kinds of books that Marie had requested, immersing themselves in the kinds of books that flooded middle school and high school book lists.

"Can you just pick something? We came to get that Runcorn girl a book, not for you to expand your own personal library." Eddy wasn't exaggerating as Double-D was surrounded by a small pile of thirty books that he was eagerly skimming through. "Oh this one would probably work, but then again I'm not sure she'll understand the subject matter. Maybe this one, this is well written. No, probably too long winded her our age. But maybe…" Eddy snapped his fingers in front of Double-D's face, bringing him out of his musings. "Hey, the store's closing in an hour and we don't have enough cash to get all of these. You need to narrow it down quickly. I didn't come down to town to spend it in a nerd store." "Eddy." Double-D said reproachfully. "A book store isn't a nerd store. Or should I start calling the store you and Kevin get your video games a 'nerd store'?" Eddy went silent and scowled. "Though you are right. We should get home before your parents get concerned." Eddy scoffed. "No kidding. That woman is practically smothering me the older I get." Double-D looked around the pile he had and picked up a copy of _Of Mice and Men_. "This should be a good introductory piece." "Finally," Eddy murmured. "Lets get Ed and see if the jawbreaker store is open."

After getting Ed and agreeing to buy his comic the trio went down to the checkout line. The line round around two long tables of books like a snake and the five checkout counters were all full. Eddy started tapping his foot in irritation as the trio slowly inched towards the front of the line. "Jeez, what's taking them so long?" "Early christmas shopping most likely." "This is insane! I mean look at that guy." Eddy pointed towards one of the stands where the cashier was scanning two large stacks of books for a middle aged man with dirty blonde hair and wire rim glasses who was wearing a business suit. "How many family members do you have that you need to get that many books? And how many of those family members actually like books?!" "Eddy, not everybody focuses on getting video games and sports equipment for christmas or for their birthdays." "Double-D, it would be a better world if that was the case." Double-D glared at him. "I'm not even gonna dignify that with a rebuttal."

Double-D looked away and scanned the new release shelf, figuring that he could get something for himself while he waited. As his eyes scanned the shelves, he caught something that surprised him. 'Hold on, this can't be right.' He reached out and pulled the book off the shelf and read the cover. 'It is. But why?' He leafed through it quickly, recognizing that it is rather well written, but it was still stunning to see something like this at that moment. 'I should put this back and keep looking. Fantasy isn't really for me anyway.' Just as he was about to put it back though, a thought entered his head. Not a sinister thought or even a vindictive one, but definitely a devious one.

"Hey Eddy, do you think this would help Marie's research?" Eddy turned to him, annoyed and exasperated, when he saw Double-D's sly grin. He looked at the book that was in Double-D's hands and read the title, a wicked grin growing on his face as he did so. "Yeah, I think it will. In fact, I think that that will be more helpful than the research we're giving her." "Well of course, after all this has more information than we can get from wikipedia and we want her to do her best, don't we?" Double-D replied faux politely. "Yeah, because if she ended up coming home due to our negligence, that would be a tragedy." Double-D pretended to look wistfully into the distance, his hand on his forehead. "Yes, we must do our best to keep here at the school so far away." Eddy draped an arm over his shoulder in consolation. "It is regretful that she has to be so far away from us, but it is for the best." The two of them chuckled as they approached the cashier. "Hello there. Did you have a good time finding what you're looking for?" Eddy gave his best suave smile. "Indeed we did sweetcheeks. The holidays seem to make even shopping better." Double-D noticed the cashier, who looked to be at least seven years older than them, roll her eyes as she scanned the books and swiped their card. "Indeed sirs, you have a nice day now." Eddy fingered banged the cashier as they left, heading out with his friends back into the snow, their troubles temporarily forgotten.


	19. Loneliness in a crowd

** I apologize for how late the last chapter was once again. I had a severe case of writer's block and it won't happen again (or at least until I suffer a case of burnout). Now, before we get into this I'd like to talk about two things. To my readers and their families, I hope you're all doing well and you're safe and healthy. With this pandemic, which has claimed the lives of over 500,000 people and will claim so many more over the coming months, affecting our lives, I want you to stay as safe as possible. I unfortunately live in America, a broken nation run by a brian dead sociopathic narcissist who wants to defund testing because the numbers are making him look bad, which has politicized a national health crisis. So I can't believe I'm saying this, but if any of my readers are Republicans, please wear a mask. Just for once stop with the macho posturing or the sheep mentality and listen to actually doctors. And this goes for everybody, including my foreign readers. Wear a mask when you go out in public, wash your hands when you come home from work or shopping, shower every day, even twice a day just to be sure. If you can get them and you're not allergic, get latex gloves and wear them when you're out in public. And finally, if you can, donate to your local wellness center or health charity so that we can find a cure or develop a vaccine. These are dark times, times that we haven't experienced since the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918-1920 and with cases rising once again in the U.S., this pandemic will likely claim the lives of more than 1,000,000 people. And as for the second big thing happening recently, I openly support what's going on. I have long been a student of history, particularly of colonial history and the Civil War and Jim Crow. As a Causasin, I believe we need to atone, as much for our ancestors' past crimes as for our crimes that we committed out of negligence or consciousness. And I'm included in that, as my great grandfather wrote minstrel shows, perpetuating a harmful stereotype that reinforced racism and Jim Crow in Massachusetts, particularly in its largest city and his hometown, Boston. By tearing down statues that reinforce racism, removing the Confederate symbol from state flags and reforming the police system by rebuilding it from the ground up, we are taking steps in the right direction. But we need more, we need to fundamentally reducate ourselves by killing the myth of the Lost Cause, we need to condemn the KKK as a terrorist organization and a hate group and we need explicitly write down in law that such actions like choke holds, slamming suspects faces into the ground repeated and excessive use of force by the police is illegal. Black. Lives. Matter. They have always mattered. But for centuries, my country's police and justice have made white lives more valuable than the lives of hispanics, african americans and asian americans. Rage Against the Machine said it best when they said "Some of those that serve forces are the same that burn crosses". That must change through the law, whether it be by giving minorities similar sentencing to whites or by giving them the resources to get the same opportunities. If you are able, support the protests happening across the world. Even if you live in Europe or Asia, you'll likely find a protest nearby if you look. Donate to the NAACP, or Black Lives Matter, or the National Urban League, or the ACLU or even the Southern Poverty Law Center. Change needs to be made and I am convinced that this year is the penultimate year of our time. Let us aspire to it. **

**Loneliness in a crowd**

"Okay, if we just need to taper down a bit more and, there." Marie and Seamus stepped back to look at their work. "Finished, and all it took us was three rolls of Spell-o tape." Marie stated, a roll held up in her right hand. She turned to Dean. "Hey, you got those balloons filled yet?" "Just about," Dean replied as he tied a balloon end next to a pile of twenty filled, lumpy red balloons. "I'm actually surprised we were able to finish this before lunch. Squeezing all that mayo in these was really difficult you know." Marie walked over and picked up one of the mayo balloons, carrying it in both hands due to its deformity. "I know, but setting up pranks is a far more complex act than filling a bucket of water and putting it above a door. You got to be willing to put in hours of work in order to get it right." "You mean like how it usually takes about four to six hours to draw a really good charcoal portrait." Marie snaps her fingers at him. "Exactly. Effort and planning is needed for whatever you set your mind too, you can't just do things on the fly or half-ass it and expect good results. Just ask Ryan Leaf." Dean and Seamus looked confused when Neville came running up the stairs. "Malfoy's coming." he breathed. "He should be here in about a minute." A devilish grin spread across Seamus's face. "Perfect. Lets see how that gelled up git will like having this is his hair."

The group scuryed over to the slingshot and prepared it to fire. The slingshot was less like a slingshot and more like a small catapult. The wood had been taken from a large tree branch that they had been lucky to come across while Marie and Dean were sketching pine cones. With a base that was about 50 centimeters diameter and two branches that curved in at a 55 degree angle, it was a perfect piece to trim the excess off of. They then raided the laundry for some extremely long and thick belts and a few G-cup bras that they lashed together for the sling. This was the culmination of more than two days of work, one final prank before the holidays truly set in.

"There he is." Dean said, watching as Malfoy and his goon squad ascended from the dungeon passageway and strut towards the great hall. "He's still just walking around with just those two?" Neville asked. "You think he would've learned better after we stole his robes and replaced them with pinstripe slacks and polyester jackets." "Who cares? Neville, help us spot this thing already." Seamus called from his position with Marie at the sling. That was the problem with the slingshot. Due to its size they needed two people to get enough tension in the sling for it to work. Neville hurried over to them as they pulled back on the sling, Dean relaying Malfoy's position.

"Okay, he's stopped in front of the Great Hall. Hagrid has blocked the way with a Christmas tree. He's arguing something and...oh no." "Oh no. *grunt* Oh no what?" Seamus asked as he and Marie struggled to lower the sling to the right angle of fire. "Our dormmates are in the line of fire. And Ron is getting angry." He turned to the firing squad. "Should we abort?" "No. I am not missing this opportunity, we'll apologize later." Marie stated. Dean looked back at the Great Hall entrance, where Ron was about to explode. "Well, we better do it now then. FIRE!" Marie and Seamus released the slingshot, a loud THWACK echoing through the entrance hall as the heavy, lumpy balloon flipped end over end as it tumbled through the air before slamming into the side of Malfoy's head, splattering mayo on his hair, robes and face. If they could see his face, they would've seen his eyes widen to the size of pool balls as he was staggered by being hit by more than 2.5 kilos of mayonnaise.

When the ten to fifteen seconds of shock had worn off, the Great Hall erupted in rapturous laughter. Even Hermione had started giggling, though she tried to cover it with her hand. The four miscreants were watching the crowd with gleeful smirks. "I think that this might've been the greatest thing I've ever done in my life." Neville whispered. "Give it a few years Nev. We're going to be doing greater things than this if you stick with me." Marie stated, joy glistening in her eyes as Malfoy tried to wipe the mayo from his hair. "Hey, isn't that Snape?" Seamus asked as a familiar greasy haired professor swooped out of the entrance to the dungeons. "Oh my god it is." Marie exclaimed in glee. "Quick, load another balloon. I want to see if we can get his face." Her partners and crime quickly rushed to reload the slingshot, anticipation tingling through their bones as they prepared to fire another balloon. Snape didn't see them, too distracted trying to figure out who was responsible for the mess and with vanishing the mayo off Malfoy. As such, it was too late for him to do little more than freeze in surprise when another balloon socked him in the faee.

"Bullseye!" Dean cheered as Snape reeled from the force of the blast. "I think some of it got in his mouth!" "Hah, maybe this will get him to actually wash his hair for once." Seamus remarked with bitter vindicion. Snape wiped the mayo from his seething black eyes and spotted the quad loading up another balloon. He looked over at Harry, Ron and Hermione, spotted that Marie wasn't with them, and looked back at the group, mayo dripped down off him like melting snow. "KANKER!" "Well, he's spotted us. Looks like the fun is over." Dean remarked morosely. "Shame really, wanted to get Crabbe and Goyle as well." "We'll get them later." Seamus shouted. "Let's fire this and scaddale." Marie and Seamus fired one final balloon and fled towards the staircase, Neville and Dean following behind them. They snickered as they heard Malfoy give a surprised yelp as the balloon slammed into his face, the fading echoes of Snape shouting vitrial trailing behind them.

They stopped running when they eventually reached the fourth floor of the class, their adrenaline receding as they basked in the glow of yet another successful mission in their quest to make the lives of Malfoy and Snape miserable. For the past month ever since they made their vow on the banks of the Black Lake, the four of them had started to rival the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan in the amount of chaos they were causing throughout the school. They had so far switched the pumpkin juice for dinner with hot sauce, taught the rows of knights outside the trophy room to sing 99 bottles of beer whenever Filch was cleaning them, enraged all the females of ravenclaw house by leaving copies of _Twilight _on their bed pillows and inked all the telescopes in Gryffindor house so that everybody that didn't wear glasses got black rings around their eyes. But they reserved their greatest pranks and stunts for Snape and Malfoy. They painted the potions classroom bright fuschia, jinxed Malfoy so that his nose hairs grow until they were a meter in length, pantsed Crabbe and Goyle whenever Malfoy was trying to get Harry or Ron in trouble, wrote a singing letter that compared Snape to Bela Legosi and even (with Oliver Woods's help) charmed the potions room door to play the Imperial March whenever Snape entered the room and the Lollipop guild theme from Ding Dong the Witch is Dead whenever Malfoy and his fluckies entered the room. All and all, their actions have made Malfoy and Snape loathe them more than ever, if Snape's more active bullying of Neville has been any indication, as well as his more active and ridiculous point reductions. At one point he had even removed two points from Marie for breathing too loudly. But if he thought that would get them to cool off their antics, he was sadly mistaken. All it did was feed their desire to ruin as much of his day as they could.

"HAHAHAHA Oh Merlin did you see his face?" Seamus roared as he leaned against the wall to remain upright. "Which you, the one of Malfoy looking like a drowned hamster or Snape looking like he was boiling an egg on his head?" Dean asked between chuckles. "BOTH!" Seamus exclaimed, finally losing the battle as he collapsed on the floor guffawing. Neville was laughing so hard that he was clutching his ribs unable to speak and Marie was snorting as she slammed her fist into the castle wall. "Oh man, I wonder how long it will take Malfoy to redo his hair." Marie uttered between snorts. "Probably three hours, seeing how long it takes for that git to do his hair." Seamus stated as he got off from the floor, a beaming grin on his face. "I know we're going to get so much crap for this." Dean said before a massive smile spread on his face. "But that was so worth it." Marie chuckled into her hand as she started to bring her exubulation under control. "As it should." She draped her arms over her friends, pulling all three of them in. "Another success prank. Man, if we were all older, I would buy us all a round of drinks to celebrate."

The four of them chuckled as their exuberance started to wear off, their minds saving that memory in a file, and cataloging it in cabinet space. They sighed as they released it, their smiles disappearing as they calmed down. Neville released himself from Marie's embrace, scratching his ear as a more negative emotion passed over his face. The other three grew concerned. "Hey Nev, you alright?" Dean asked. Neville turned to them, looking rather unsure. "Oh it's nothing." None of them were convinced. "Nothing." Marie stated. Neville nodded. "Nothing." Seamus rolled his eyes. "Neville, we won't be able to do anything if you tell us nothing. Speak again." Neville grimaced, but he spoke. "Well, it's just that I was thinking that maybe we could tone down the amount of pranks we were doing." The other three looked at him in surprise. "Not that I think they're not fun or anything, it's just." "Just what?" Dean asked stoically. "All the planning, all the preparation, it's cutting into my study time and I'm really struggling in, well, almost everything." He looked away, afraid that he would be reprimanded. It didn't come.

"Hey Nev," Marie stated, placing her hand on his shoulder. "It's fine. We can half, even quarter the number of pranks that we pull each month if needed. If you want to only take part in the execution of the pranks and not the planning and prep work, we'll do that as well." Neville looked up at her and then at the others. "Really?" Seamus rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Honestly, I was about to suggest this as well." "Really? Why?" Dean asked. "Well, I wanted to practice my charm work more often. I keep setting things on fire, no matter what spell I do." The other three winced. They remembered one particular incident the other day when Professor Flitwick was having them learn Diffindo, the cutting spell, on pieces of carpet. While Seamus had succeeded in casting the spell, the edges of the carpet that had been cut had caught fire, as if they had been cut by a flaming sword.

"Yeah, probably should work on that, otherwise your school year photo will have 'Most likely to become an arsonist' underneath it." Marie stated, a slightly worried look on her face. Dean looked at Neville. "Does this school even have year books?" Neville shrugged. Dean looked over at Seamus. "Tell you what, you help me with my History of Magic homework and help with the spell casting." Seamus smiled. "Thanks man, but I didn't know you were struggling with this stuff." "Hey, give me some slack. I didn't grow up with this stuff. I'm muggleborn, I spent my grammar school days learning about the accomplishments of the British Empire. I didn't come from a family whose ancestors fought on the frontlines of the goblin wars like yours did." "Awe come on man." He gestured to Marie. "Marie had almost the same education you did and she's acing every class, while she's still doing work for that muggle school she's still registered for. I bet she's not even struggling with anything right now." Marie bit her lips. "That's not entirely true." The other three looked at her in surprise. Marie sighed and licked her palms. She rubbed her eyes, and looked at them, revealing that she had two centimeters of light purple bags under her eyes. The three looked at her in concern. She smiled. "You got to be willing to put in the work to get in right."

She sighed tiredly, dragging her hand through her hair. "I honestly can't wait for the holidays to get started. I want to be able to sleep in again." Seamus smirked. "I hear that. Unfortunately, I don't think my parents will allow me to do that." "Really? Is your mom that strict?" Dean asked. "Nah, nah." Seamus stated. "It's just that my folks and I are going to be hiking through the southwest country during holiday. They're going to make me get up early just so that we can get as much distance as we can before we stop at a hotel. Least we'll be spending a few days in Galway before I head back." Marie was feeling rather tense, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"If you want, I can get you some blister cream while I'm in France." "You're vacationing in France?" Neville asked. "Paris more specifically. My folks will probably have us go up to Caen, Reims and Chartres for a bit, go see the churches and the beaches. Really looking forward to going to the Louvre, see all those baroque paintings and Charlemagne's sword." "I thought it was really difficult to see anything in there, because of all the crowds." Marie said, a silent hint of bitterness seeping into her voice. "Ah." Dean conveyed, wagging his finger at her knowingly. "But you see, nobody wants to vacation in Europe during winter unless they want to go skiing. This is practically the perfect time to see anything at the Louvre. Less people to get in your way." Seamus smirked. "Smart." Marie was starting to get really annoyed with what they were talking about. 'Shut up. Shut up.'

"What about you Nev, you going anywhere during holiday?" Dean asked. "No, I'm going to be staying back home with gran. She wants to have Christmas with the family this year. We haven't done it since I was eight." "Isn't that when your Great Uncle dropped you out of a four story window?" Seamus asked. "Yeah, Gran wasn't happy when she found out about that. She's mainly doing this because Great Aunt Willis won't stop badgering her about letting him come back." "So the entire thing is out of annoyance." Seamus remarked. "Sort of. But honestly, I think gran would've done it on her own within a few more years. Uncle Algie is her brother after all, and it was an accident. Last time I got a letter from her she mentioned that he's done stupider things." Marie was now trying really hard not to scowl. 'Stupider, yeah right. If he hadn't awoken his magic then, his Uncle would've killed him because of his negligence.' "You alright Marie?" Marie shoke out of her thoughts and saw that her friends were looking at her with concern. "Oh yeah, I'm just really hungry right now." Dean looked at her confusingly. "Didn't you eat before we set up the prank?" Marie laughed loudly and put her hand behind her head. "Yeah, I just have a really big appetite you know." Seamus snorted. "Tell me about it, you can't seem to get enough of the ribs that are served at dinner." "Pretty sure the first time I heard you eat them I thought a wild animal had escaped from the forest and crashed into the hall." Dean snarked. Marie pouted, causing the other three to laugh.

"Oh come on Marie, you know we're just messing with you. You're like a sister to us." Dean said good naturedly. Unseen by them, Marie winced at that. "Speaking of sisters, you have two of them over in the States don't ya? What are you going to do with them over the holidays?" Marie froze. "Um...well." 'Come on Marie, you've gotten out of trickier situations than this. Just give something plausible.' "Well, all those prank supplies, the paint, the fifty tubes of mayo, the polyester suit that cost 4000 pounds and a lot of the other stuff really cut into my budget and I'm not going to get my allowance till next month, so I'm currently unable to purchase a plane ticket. She tried her best to look disappointed at that fact. Seamus and Dean seemed to buy it, but Neville looked a lot more sceptical. "But hey, reducing the number of pranks should save me money for a ticket home for next time." She grinned, hoping that it didn't look forced. Neville however wasn't willing to relinquish the issue. "Why didn't you ask me for funds? I come from an old family, we have more than enough." "I'm sorry, did I just hear you volunteer to ask your grandmother for prank money?" Neville shivered. "Nevermind."

"Any way," Marie stated. "I need to get to the library. I got a potions essay on a frostbite treating potion that I haven't started yet that I need to do before tomorrow." "Wait, I thought you would've done that by now." Dean said. "Yeah, you always have your stuff done days before class and you're always riding us to get ours done before we could do prank planning." Seamus declared with annoyance. Marie smirked. "Come on guys, do you really think I'll put that much effort into Snape's class. What should I give him the benefit of knowing I care?" "After what we did, I'd expect not." Seamus snarked. "But I thought you were hungry?" Neville said. "Eh, I'll just ask the twins to get me something from the kitchen, they do that all the time. I'll see you guys in Transfiguration alright?" "Yeah, see ya there." Dean said. "Hey Seamus, Nev, want to play some Blackjack?" Seamus nodded while Neville looked confused. "Blackjack? What's that?" "Right, you grew up in a wizarding household." Dean remarked as he drew out a pack of cards. "Well, the game goes like this, you have two players and a dealer"

Marie watched as her friends left, introducing Neville to the world of gambling, smiling at them as they headed down the hallway. When they turned the corner, her smile quickly disappeared. She sighed as she walked off in the opposite direction. 'Should probably get to the library, if just to get affirmation from witnesses should they ask.' As she walked along the corridor, her thoughts started to drift towards the past conversation. 'Why was I so uncomfortable back there? It's not like I felt that way whenever I heard Ovenmitt or Kevin or any of the other kids back at Peach Creek Elementary talk about what they were going to do over vacation. I know it's not like I was jealous of them going to exotic places, I have more than enough money to afford a round the world trip when I'm old enough, all while staying at the most high end hotels in the world. If anything I got more angry when Neville was talking about spending time with his family...oh.'

She leaned her head against a wall, a small headache starting to form. 'Stop thinking about them, stop thinking about them. They do not deserve to be thought about and you are better off without them.' Unfortunately for her, while she was good at lying to others, she was terrible when it came to lying to herself. Ever since the troll attack and Snape's murder attempt at the Quidditch match, shes realized that her problems with her older sister and especially her mother are small potatoes when she's constantly expecting her potions professor to stop holding back and just flood her potions class with chlorine gas and lock the door (and she was convinced that the only reason he hasn't done this yet is because he would also have to kill the Slytherin's in the class as well. She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or angry that the lives of the students in his own house are worth more to him than a chance to kill Harry in his home territory). In addition, all the pranking that she had done with Dean, Seamus, Neville, Fred, George and Lee, her homework sessions with Hermione, playing wizard's chess with Ron, learning about Quidditch from Harry, even trading barbs with Daphne had made realize one thing; her mother had been complete right in sending her here and that this was probably the best thing that could've happened to her.

Unfortunately, that realization had two catches to it. The first was that it has caused her to start to question if Lee had a toxic influence on her, and the second was that it still didn't make up for the fact that her mother had lied to her for most of her life. While Lee was certainly a problem she would need to get to, what her mother did had been worse. She had trusted her mother more than any other person in the world, she was her rock no matter what happened to her and now she couldn't trust her. That was the bridge that had thoroughly burned and she had no idea how to even start rebuilding it, or if she even wanted to.

'No, she needs to be the one to apologize first, not you. You are a Kanker sister, and a Kanker sister doesn't. Show. Weakness.' She entered the library and headed towards an empty work table near the center of the room. 'I'm in the right.' she thought as she withdrew from her bag a roll of parchment, a bottle of black ink and two crow feather quills. 'It doesn't matter that she was sorry about what she did, or that she was sad when I had to leave, she knew what she was doing for years and she did it anyway. Far as I'm concerned she can stew in her own misery for as long as I want.' She unfurled the scroll and pinned the bottom section to the desk pins, seemingly resolute in her decision. She then looked down at the parchment, staring down at the mostly completed essay. 'Why am I doing this again?'

In all honesty, she didn't really want to do the essay. She could finish this tonight if needed, but she didn't even want to do that. In fact, she was struggling to do much of anything recently. She was struggling to go through the motions of getting up in the morning, she had to force herself to go to class and the food in the Great Hall, once so delicious, now tasted like sand in her mouth. Even the mayonnaise balloon prank had been difficult to actually do. Half the time she had considered scrapping the plan all together. Just this morning she actually considered that showering wasn't worth the effort. And the worst part was that it was getting harder to resist the temptation to just spend the day in bed with the lights off and the curtains drawn with every successive day. She didn't understand why, though she suspected that it had a little bit to do with homesickness. 'But why? I know I miss May, but I've been getting enough letters from her. And I guess I miss Lee, but do I really miss her?'

"Are you actually going to write something or are you going to keep flicking your parchment up the desk?" Marie jumped in surprise, banging her knee harshly against the bottom of the desk. She bit her lip as she gave a closed scream in pain as her body contorted in pain. She looked up with tear filled angry eyes at Hermione, who was standing there was a pile of several thick tomes in her hands staring down at her emotionlessly. "God damn it Hermione, at least let somebody know that you're there before talking to them." Hermione rolled her eyes as she dumped the books down on the table. "Like you would've reacted any differently if I had just tapped your shoulder. You've been doing nothing but staring down at the desk blurily while lazily rolling and unrolling a 36 centimeter roll of parchment for the last five minutes. What are you even doing anyway?" Marie looked down at the parchment, which was still pinned to just the bottom of the desk, unrolled, and back up to Hermione. "Procrastinating." Hermione gave her an annoyed look before releasing a tired sigh. "Any reason why you're procrastinating on doing your school work, again." Marie shrugged disinterestedly. "Don't know. I know I need to finish this. I know I should finish it, but I can't even bring myself to write utter nonsense on it."

She shouldn't have said that. Hermione was now looking at her with concern swimming in her eyes. She scooted into a seat close to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" "What, yeah. Yeah I'm fine." Marie lied. Hermione stared at her with scepticism, pursing her lips together in frustration. "Fine then, if you are well then that means you can help me find out who Nicholas Flamel is." Hermione grabbed one book from the stack and started leafing through it, the title _Developments in Modern Charm work_ embossed in gold lettering on the cover seen from the corner of Marie's vision. "Hermione, you've searched practically half the library by now. I don't think we're going to find anything here." Hermione glared at her as she flicked through the pages. "Oh like you've been much help." "I am. It's just taking a long time for my informant to get back to me." Hermione stopped flipping and looked at Marie in alarm. "An informant?! You told someone?! Why on earth did you tell someone?!" she exclaimed, panic seeping out of every word. "Hey don't worry, I didn't tell him why we were doing this, just that I needed help on a history paper. Guy's a sucker for helping others with school work." This didn't placate Hermione a bit. "And you never thought that he would tell someone, like Madam Pince, or Flitwick, or heaven's forbid, MCGONAGALL?" Marie scoffed. "Who on earth is he going to tell? It's not like he goes here?"

She really shouldn't have said that. Hermione's eyes had widened in shock for about ten seconds as she let that little detail set in, but now her eyes were trying to set Marie's hair on fire. "Why? Why doesn't he go here? And more importantly, how do you know him?" Marie gulped, a bead of sweat going down her face. "Well, to answer the first question, he is a muggle." If Hermione had earlier been trying to set fire to her hair, now her eyes were trying to melt her face. "A muggle!" she growled, sparks flying from her teeth as she ground them together. "You asked a muggle to help find out information about a wizard!" *SMACK* Hermione squeaked in pain as she was hit by a floating ruler. The two girls looked over to the hawk like Madam Pince, her parchment yellow face cressed with an angry snarl, her ink black eyes boring into them as if trying to destroy their souls. This combined with her Wicked Witch of the West hat and cloak gave the impression of a greater evil that Voldemort could barely hope to achieve.

"You asked a muggle! Why did you even think that that was a good idea?" Hermione angrily whispered. Marie absentmindedly scratched her ear. "Well I was looking at some chocolate frog cards that Ron's collecting the other day and both Circe and Merlin were on there and I thought 'Hey, muggles have heard of these guys in fantasy. Maybe Nicolas Flamel is similar'." This did not assure Hermione at all. "And what happens if they don't?" "Then I'll say that you were right and help you search this parchment jungle for our guy."

Hermione let go of Marie's collar, rubbing her eyes in tired exasperation. "Okay, fine. You asked a muggle to get information about someone that had no part in muggle society, fine. When did you send a letter?" "I sent out after the Quidditch match." Hermione glared at Marie again. "And why is it taking so long for him to get back to us?" Marie now looked very skittish, avoiding Hermione's eyes as her own flitted across the room. "Well, you know that it takes awhile for people to find things. I mean, we've been here for more than a month we're no closer to finding out who Flamel is than when we started." "Oh don't give me that nonsense!" Hermione spat. "You and I both know that we're facing different circumstances than your friend. We can't ask Pince about Flamel because she might tell McGonagall or Snape, something your friend can do with his local librarian. And even if that library had nothing on Flamel, he has the internet. If he has a personal computer, he can practically look it up at home. So why is it taking him so long?!" "Okay, you want to know why he's taking so long?" Marie stated scathingly, barely restraining herself from shouting. "It's because the owl's resting, and the reason the owl's resting is because it had to fly all the way across the Atlantic to deliver it. So we're not going to get an answer back from him until Christmas at the earliest, in fact we should probably expect to not get a reply back from him until next year."

Hermione at this point was practically seething. "If you knew that, why didn't you just wait until when you returned home for Christmas break to ask him directly?" Marie quirked an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about? I'm staying here for the holidays." Hermione's hands trembled. "Why?" "Well, all the money I spent on prank materials made it so that I was unable to afford a ticket, so I can't go home." Hermione slammed her hands upon the table. "That's a lie and you know it! If you knew that you were running out of money so that you wouldn't afford a plane ticket, then you wouldn't have bought that 4,500 pound suit. You have more than enough money to buy a plane ticket. So why are you staying here." Marie glared crossly down at the table, refusing to look at Hermione's scathing glare. "I don't want to be with my mom right now alright. I'm currently having a bit of an issue with her right now and I don't want to be in the same country as her right now." "Why? Why do you not want to be with your family right now?" Marie gave no answer. "I know that you've been writing letters to your younger sister for months now, even using multiple owls to keep sending letters back and forth so that you can keep updating each other in real time. What on earth could your mother have done that was so bad to you that you wouldn't even see HER for Christmas?"

*SNAP* The sound of cracking wood resounded throughout the library. A large chunk of wood snapped from the desk Marie had working on, tearing the bottom part off of it. Her hands were clenched tightly around the destroyed piece of desk, cracks radiating out from her fingers as they left imprints in the wood. A dark shadow fell across her eyes, masking her expression. A cold wind blew in from the hallway sending a tingle up Hermione's back. She couldn't tell if it was from cold or from nervous terror.

"Have you ever been lied to?" Hermione almost didn't hear her, the question coming out in almost a whisper. "Of course I have. Everyone has." Hermione replied nervously. The cracks in the wood started to spread as Marie's hand clenched tighter. "Have you ever been lied to by someone you trusted?" She asked, her voice louder, more trembly. "Well, my parents did lie to me about where kids came from, that was a disturbing thing to find out when I read that anatomy textbook." The cracks spread further. "Have you ever been lied to for your entire life?" This brought Hermione up short, as the crack spreading was once again becoming audible. "How would you feel if that came from someone you trusted, someone who you loved so much that you shared your most intimate moments with them? Someone who was there when you were at your lowest and celebrated with you when you were at your heights?" She was getting louder with each sentence and Hermione saw that there were tears running down her cheeks. "How would you feel if the lie was about who you were? About who your parent was, about what you were?" Hermione realized where this was going, and she did not like it. "Um, no. My parents are muggles." Marie stayed quiet. "Is that what your mother did? Not tell you you were a wizard?"

"She knew." Marie answered as coldly as Snape. "She knew for eleven years, and she lied to my face. I trusted her and SHE LIED TO MY FACE!" The plank of wood shattered, her scroll falling to the floor. She whirled to Hermione, causing her to gasp in shock. Marie's eyes were glaring at her, anger and loathing mixed in with bloodshot eyes that gushed tears out of them like a waterfall. Her teeth were clenched in a near feral snarl. Her breathing was ragged, almost as if she were gasping the words out. She grabbed Hermione's arms, causing her to let at a gasp of pain as Marie grasped them so hard that she nearly frackered them. "SHE KNEW I WAS GOING TO FIND OUT EVENTUALLY! SHE KNEW THAT I WAS GOING TO GET MY LETTER WHEN I TURNED ELEVEN! SHE KNEW THAT I WAS GOING TO GO TO A WIZARD SCHOOL, IF NOT HERE THEN BACK IN THE STATES, AND YET SHE STILL TELL ME ABOUT WHO I WAS, ABOUT WHAT I WAS! SO TELL ME HERMIONE, HOW CAN I GO HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS WHEN I WANT TO SHOVE MY WAND DOWNHER %&$# &% THROAT UNTIL SHE CHOKES! SO TELL ME HERMIONE! TELL ME HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WERE IN THE SAME POSITION I'M IN RIGHT NOW! TELL ME!"

Hermione froze up, inwardly panicking as she tried to focus on Marie's furious face and not on the fact that she was starting to hear her bones in her arms snap. She desperately tried to come up with an answer so that her friend wouldn't try to strangle her. She then noticed Marie's eyes, really noticed. The storm that was brewing in her eyes had caused them to take on a darker gray, almost as dark as coal. Anger was flowing out with every tear, releasing months of pain that had been bottled up and releasing with the force of soda combined with mentos. Then, still looked closer and saw something that she didn't expect. Desperation. As if she didn't know how she was supposed to act. Hermione's eyes widened in understanding. She wasn't demanding an answer out of spite and frustration, she was begging for one because she didn't have one. At that moment, any sense of fear, any feeling of anxiety, even the sharp stabs of pain that jolted up her arms disappeared. All she felt now was a swath of pity and empathy.

"How you feel right now." Hermione answered, sadness and sympathy flowing from her mouth with every breath. "Hurt. Betrayed. Angry. Resentful. Depressed. Honestly I'm surprised that you've been holding up as well as you have. I probably would've been staying up at night, staring up at the ceiling, clutching a pillow to my chest with tears in my eyes." Hermione blinked, her eyes getting moist. "And there would be one single word trapped circling inside my head, 'Why?'"

Marie lost her anger over the course of Hermione's answer. As Hermione looked at her now, she saw a mess. She was close to breaking and they both knew it. Marie closed her eyes in a vain attempt to keep herself together. She knew that it would be better for them both if they just left the library and returned to the common room. But there was still something she needed to ask. Hermione was the smartest person in school, surely she had an answer for this as well, right?

"And how would you feel," she blubbered, barely able to get the words coherently out of her mouth. "If despite all of that, you still love them. That you know they were just as hurt by what they did, that they knew what they did was wrong and that they wanted to make up for what they did?" She opened up her eyes and looked back up into Hermione's. "How do you even try to start repairing the relationship?" Hermione looked at her with regret. "I...I don't know." She said reluctantly.

Something shattered in Marie. She didn't know when she started sobbing but she did feel Hermione wrap her arms around her as she clung to her chest like a lifeline. Hermione rubbed her back as a few tears came down from her eyes. This was the strongest person that she knew in her arms, a girl that could stare down Snape's darkest glare and laugh at him, a girl that was able to juggle work from two schools and still rank as one of the top 5 students in her class for both schools, collapsing under her own emotional strain and she couldn't do anything to help her. All she could do was stand there, holding her while trying to keep her from falling to the floor. And she would've, except for one thing. Madam Pince, who had been conspicuous by her absence, had returned with Harry in tow and was now giving them the greatest evil eye she had ever seen. Her eyes were now a blood red, and a black ethereal aura was radiating out behind her with such intensity that it framed her body. Hermione looked over at the shattered remains of the desk, her face quickly turning as white as ash.

"Hey Harry, can you collect my things? In fact get Marie's as well while you're at it." Harry, seeing that Madam Pince's eyes were now glowing, quickly scrambled to get everything in their bags. Once he was done, he dashed out of the library as fast as he could. Hermione meanwhile gave a shaky smile to Madam Pince "So, I guess you want us to leave." Madam Pince pointed a sharp talon at Hermione and the still sobbing Marie (who didn't notice what was going on) and let out a screech that was eerily similar to Donald Sutherland's in _**Invasion of the Body Snatchers**_. Hermione also saw that Pince's upper canines were sharp and a good seven centimeters long. "Right, understood. Come on Marie, let's get you back to the Gryffindor common room." She said panically as she dragged her friend out of the library, Marie's bawls still resounding through the halls.

** I don't think that this was a very good ending, but this was the best way I could think off without it feeling melodramatic or awkward. I will admit that I'm now looking forward to working with this interpretation of Madam Pince, as I'm now planning to watch some episodes of the new Ducktales series to get some inspiration for her. As for the story, it may come out a bit slow. I'm currently on a big Oblivion run and I probably won't finish it until the end of the month, but I am getting close (I've completed both the Knights of the Nine storyline and the Mages Guild storyline and am nearly done the Dark Brotherhood, the Fighters Guild and the Thieves Guild) and it's just getting better and better as it goes along. Don't worry though, my brother currently regulates the Xbox 1 so I doubt I'll lose too much time. So I guess this is goodbye. Stay healthy, stay safe and listen to your local health organization. See you next time.**


	20. A Very Wizardly Christmas

** You know that song that came out at the beginning of this century, **_**Let the Bodies hit the Floor**_**? Well I've been thinking about that song a few times over the past few weeks and as I see the covid death count stays firmly in the 3,500 to 5,000 per day range, I can't think of a song more fitting of death's theme song. But let's not think of sad things right now, even though this year has firmly taken the worst year award from 2016 and bludgeoned it to death, we need to think of more positive things. Like, have you heard that the NBA and NHL have official startup dates to finish the season? Yeah, the NBA is going to let their 22 best current teams play out the rest of the regular season starting on July 30th before doing their playoff run. And speaking of playoffs, the NHL is about to present us the best playoff series it has ever had. 24 teams, five rounds, 1 introductory best of five series between the lower 16 teams that made the playoffs before four rounds of best of seven, and it all starts on August 1st. This is going to be amazing. Now you may be wondering why I'm mentioning this and well it's because Hockey is my favorite sport, more than lacrosse (which I played for eight years) and football, and I'm a big Indianapolis Colts fan. I am so excited about this, I mean you have to be when an entire division (the Central Division) and all but one team in another (the Metropolitan Division) made the playoffs in this unique situation. I really hope either my team (the Las Vegas Golden Knights) or my hometown team (the Philadelphia Flyers) win the Cup this year. But you didn't come here to read about me gushing about the greatest sport ever invented, you came here to read and/or make fun of my work. I should let you know right now that I'm not a big fan of Christmas. In fact it is my least favorite holiday. I'll probably end up making comments about my dislike of Christmas through the characters that I write at some point, so fair warning about that. I won't do that here in this story series, mainly because my feelings on Christmas do not matter for this story, because none of the characters have that feeling unless they have a very specific circumstance that causes them to have this belief. If I put my feelings on Christmas in the story, it will be because a character will have that feeling while keeping that character in character in terms of canon work (for example in the Total Drama/Spiderman crossover I'm going to write after I'm done my first part of the Sailor Moon/Dragonball crossover I'm currently working on, Gwen will not like Christmas because I feel that based on the character that was shown to me in the four seasons of Total Drama she was on, she would not like Christmas, therefore I would write her with my thoughts on Christmas in the story because I'd feel that it would be in character) or based on situations that I put them in. None of the characters here, whether in the books or in the two Ed, Edd & Eddy Christmas specials, have ever showed a dislike of Christmas (in fact in the second Christmas special, the Kanker sisters practically played the role of the three wisemen), nor have I put them in a situation that would cause them to change that opinion, so I will not write them as disliking Christmas because I believe that it would be out of character as they now are. So now I have to write a more upbeat Christmas chapter….yay. I do not own **_**Harry Potter**_** or **_**Ed, Edd & Eddy**_**. Those are owned by J.K. Rowling, Warner Media and AT&T.**

**A Very Wizardly Christmas**

The dull glow of a flickering candle illuminated a small desk in the corner of the Gryffindor common room. On it was a large book with slightly faded writing on the tan yellow parchment. Marie was slowly flipping through it, trying to find something on Flamel. She turned a page, lazily scanning through the many sentences that described yet another boring old wizard who was long dead just to see if there was some vague relation with Flamel. 'This is such a waste of time.' she thought as she flipped another page. She would've stopped searching the book and given up on the whole enterprise all together if she wasn't just trying to kill time at this point.

After she broke down in the library, the rest of Gryffindor had spent a few days walking on eggshells around her while Hermione tried to keep her emotionally stable. It didn't really work. Sure she was able to keep on top of her work and she still showered but there were things that showed that she wasn't getting any better. Things such as not eating as much, not combing her hair, leaving her clothes scattered on the floor rather than putting it in the hamper not smiling, something that Fred and George were disgruntled about when they found that the most they could get from her was a few slight upward flicks of her mouth. Things came to a head when Hermione woke up at 1 in the morning the day before break began to use the restroom and found Marie laying down in a full bath tub with the window open, apparently having been there since midnight. After forcefully taking her down to Madam Pomfrey to get a pepper up potion and having her stay there to make sure she didn't get hypothermia, she assigned her the task to spend three hours a day looking for something on Nicolas Flamel just so that she could focus on something other than her own misery. When she left she even gave her a note with a list of book suggestions that sang when the time came for her to do research and wouldn't shut up until she actually did it. She then found out that it would start up again if she tried to end the session early. It was effective, but she wished she picked a better song than _My Humps_.

Marie flipped another page as she read about the meaningless life of Alfred Spear, a potioneer that created a potion that allowed people to dye their hair in rainbow colors. 'Hermione, you're a brilliant student when it comes to facts, but you can't understand emotional issues for shit.' Not that she didn't appreciate Hermione trying to get her to not focus on her m0ther, or her homesickness or the increasing realization that this would be her first Christmas without her siblings, but distracting herself with busy work still didn't take her mind off of it, it just made her bored and focus on her depressing thoughts all the more.

It made her appreciate Harry and the Weasley's all the more. Harry stayed because no sane person would want to spend more than ten minutes with the bland a-holes known as the Dursleys and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley decided to visit Charlie Weasley in Romania for the holidays. With them here, they spent a lot of time taking her out of the castle, trying to get her to have fun in the snow, having snowball fights, putting snow down Percy's pants, playing hide and seek on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they had even started to teach her how to ice skate. They had even extended their efforts to when they were inside, playing gobblestones and teaching her how to play exploding snap, getting her in on ways they could get Malfoy expelled, even telling stories of past christmases they had back home (well the Weasley's did, all Harry said was "They sucked, they all sucked and less I can remember of them the happier I'll be."), but as Christmas got closer and closer, even those were starting to ring hollow.

'Wonder if this is how Scrooge felt in his younger years.' She wondered as she squinted at a few faded lines that talked about charmcaster Hannibal Traven, a powerful wizard responsible for creating a spell that could separate fecal matter from water, helped establish indoor plumbing in more than 100 magic schools and finally defeating the dark wizard Mannimarco in 1813 during the Battle of Nations, a battle that cost him his own life. A shiver went up her spine, causing her to blow into her hands. She looked around the room and saw that the fire was dying. She got up and put made kindling and a large log in the fire. As she stoked the flames, the Hogwarts clock tower rang twice. She looked up at an ornate spring clock. It was 2 in the morning. 'Huh, didn't realize that it was Christmas day.' she thought dully. She walked over to the book and closed it, the ruby red letters of the title _Great Wizard's of the 19th century_ shining faintly in the candle light. After going through Hermione's list of 20th century figures, she had started looking through 19th century history to see if Flamel had a partner or a teacher that could point her in the right direction, but she had so far found zilch and she was currently on her 16th book. 'Ovenmitt you gotta get back to me, I don't know if I could stand to read another tome about a long dead guy from who gives a shitsville who did I don't care, created I don't care or defeated who's that guy, wait I don't care.'

She grabbed the candlestick from the table and started to ascend the stairs towards her dorm room. She arrived at the landing and grasped the door handle. She hesitated outside for a minute, maybe two minutes before opening the door and entering the room. The room was dark as it normally was around this time of night, but it wasn't normal. The curtains weren't drawn, Lavender wasn't snoring, a book hadn't fallen from Hermione's bed onto the floor, even Sally-Anne's soft coes weren't there. She was the only one there, the only one in the whole tower. She went to her bed as she tried to fight off the urge to go down and sleep on the couch. She pulled off her sweater and got an undershirt from her trunk, sniffing it to see if it was dirty. She looked over at Lavender and Pavarti's bed as she finished undressing, feeling an unusual pang in her chest. "Really?" she muttered as she got under the covers. "I'm even missing them? I don't even like them."

She flopped down onto her bed, trying to get herself comfortable as she tried to get what little sleep she could. She looked over at the window and watched the snow fall past the window. She didn't know if she started dreaming or if she was hallucinating, but a memory started to form, crawling timidly out of the depths before emerging shyly into the light.

_Christmas Day, 2002, Burnham Park, Chicago_

_Marie was running through the snowy ground, laughing heartily as thick flakes as big as pennies fell on her long, black hair, which was pulled back over her ears and flowed down to her lower back. She was wearing a tattered purple jacket and frayed black gloves as she flew through the snow, laughing. She then heard a voice coming from behind her. "I'm gonna get you Marie, nobody escapes the snuggle monster!" Her mother ran in after her, wearing a patched and faded red sweater with a faux fur lined hood. She looked different to how she is now, she doesn't have any crows feet under her eyes, her hair is shorter and styled into a bob cut. Marie dodged her lung, running around and between her mother's legs, trying to trip her up, but her mother wasn't deterred. She rapped Marie up in her arms and lifted her into the air laughing, causing Marie to let out a squeal of surprised delight. She brings her to her chest and smiles at her._

"_You're going to have to do better than that if you want to avoid the grasps of the snuggle monster." she said as she bopped Marie on the nose. Maire tried to squirm away from her as she protected her nose with her hand. "No, I don't want to be with the snuggle monster!" she exclaimed, causing her mom to laugh. "Ahh, but the snuggle monster wants to be with you very much." she stated as she ruffled her daughter's hair, causing her to squeal again. Her mother laughed heartily at the sound, causing Marie to pout. "God, you're so cute when you make that face." She continued to laugh, not noticing her daughter grow a mischievous grin across her face. So she was surprised when her daughter threw her arms around her neck in a big hug. Barbara looked down at Marie, seeing her give a soft smile as she cradled into her neck. Barbara gave a similar smile as she returned it. _

Marie slowly awoke, noticing that dry and crusty lines of skin that had been appearing on her face for the last few days. "Again?" she muttered, peeking over at the window. It had stopped snowing sometime during the night and the sun was peeking through the clouds. She slowly rose, groaning as she did so. She looked over at the clock that was on her night stand. 7:15. She rubbed her eyes, forcefully resisting the urge to weep bitterly. "It's too early, why would you betray me you stupid biological clock?" She crawled to the edge of the bed, her vision squinted as she lazily rubbed her neck and started the trek to the girls shower room. She never got there however as she stubbed her toe and then tripped over a large box, causing her to fall and smash her head into the bedpost of Runcorn's bed. "Mother &$%# %# &$%# heel, what the #%$& tripped me?!" she exclaimed angrily as she stumbled up onto the bed she bashed into, clutching her head in pain. She looked over at what tripped her and what anger she had disappeared, replaced with stunned disbelief.

The box wasn't just one box, there were several of them. Some wide and thin, others as small as a box of contact fluid, and others as big as if she had gotten an entire crate of 12 types of coffee, complete with her own brewing machine, all of which rested near or at the foot of her bed. "No way." she stated as she got up from her friend's bed and grabbed a medium sized rectangular box. On it was a tag that read _To: Marie, From: Dean_. "No way." She uttered, disbelief rising as she threw the box onto the bed and grabbed a smaller, thinner package. _To: Marie, From: Eliza_. "No way!" she exclaimed as hints of joys started to slip out of her voice for the first time in weeks. She grabbed another package that was blocky and heavy. _To: Marie, From: Ron_. "Oh my god." she laughed out, her first honest laugh in days as she grabbed each gift off from the floor and stacked them together onto the bed. She stepped back so that she could look at her pile, unable to believe that she had gotten so many gifts. Due to her previous financial situation (and lack of friends), her family would do group presents, polling their cash together so that they all got one gift each. She wasn't used to having this many presents, or that so many people card about her.

With a sense of jubilation that she hadn't felt in months she grabbed her haul and hurried down the stairs towards the common room. She didn't notice the huge grin that she sported on her face as she stumbled into the common room and sprinted towards the Christmas tree in the corner of the room. She then tripped again, this time on an ottoman, causing her to spill her presents all over the room and to slam face first into the carpet. She peeled herself off the floor, noticing that she left an indent of her face on the carpet. She looked up and was relieved to see that none of her presents had landed in the fireplace, which had a roaring pale yellow blaze.

"Somebody seems excitable today." "Yes, it is a rather fortuitous thing that Miss Kanker is energetic nowadays." "Yes, it was rather concerning when she was walking around with a frown on her face." "Too true Forge, too true." Marie turned her head towards the couch and saw two identical impish grins beaming at her. Each of the Weasley twins were wearing deep blue homemade sweaters, each of which were embossed with gold letters, one G and one F, along with two pairs of khakis. "Yeah yeah yeah." she stated as she pulled herself up off the floor. "I know I haven't been myself lately, I don't need you two commenting on it like Statler and Waldorf." Fred and George looked at each other and then back at her in confusion. "Who?" they asked. Marie pinched the bridge between her eyes as she fought against letting out a soft groan. "I'll show you some other time, just know that they're a pair of cantankerous and opinionated puppets."

Fred and George still looked confused, but shrugged off their questions. It didn't seem to be that important to know. They returned to giving a pair of sly grins. "Well, I have to say that it's good to see you come down like that. We have seen someone that excited to open presents since our little sister Ginny was eight." George commented, Marie noticing that he was wearing the sweater with the F on it. "Well, it's just that I didn't expect to get this many. Merlin's sakes I wasn't even expecting to get two presents." she said as she moved around the common room and placed her scattered presents next to an armchair. Fred and George looked at her in confused shock. "What, you thought that we," Fred said, gesturing to both himself and George. "Wouldn't have gotten you anything for Christmas?" "Or Harry." "Or Neville." "Or Hermione." "Or icky Ronnikins." "Okay, okay I get it!" Marie exclaimed irritably. She took a deep breath as she slumped into the chair. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just used to only getting one gift per year."

Fred and George were now looking at her with disbelief. "One gift? Why only one gift, don't you have two sisters?" Fred asked. Marie then started to chuckle bitterly, the twins noticing that her fingers were tightly clenching the armrests. "You know how even though you guys have to live off of hand me downs, you live in a house, have your own beds, and have three meals per day?" Fred and George nodded. "Well, I'm the kid that would be looking at you in envy." Fred and George were stunned. It was well known amongst the wizarding world that the Weasley's were while an old family were a notoriously poor one. To hear someone say that they wish they had as much money as them was as if someone had told them that they wished that they ended up being head of a ministry department like their father. It was possible, but that department was so bare bones that it wasn't even worth the effort to envy.

"I live in a trailer, which is little more than a five room metal shack with a rusted heating unit and half working ac. With so little room I have to share a bed with both of my siblings. And then there's my mother, who has to work three jobs just to afford the rent and very little else. If we use the money to pay the electric bill, we don't have enough money to keep the hot water on. We pay that, then we only have enough money to afford cereal and school lunch. It's a constant juggling act of barely scraping by. So at Christmas what we do is pool our money into four group gifts, one for each person. That is all we get." Fred and George were stunned. "But, but, surely you had friends that sent you gifts." "Hahahaha." A harsh, angry laugh ripped out of her throat, chilling the twins to the bone. "Oh sure, be friends with the redneck trailer trash who's best hopes for the future selling their body for drug money or spending the next few years in juvenile hall for gang activity. Yeah, I had so many friends back home let me tell ya." she snarked, her grin looking more like a snarl.

She then sighed and looked down, her eyes obscured in darkness. "Not that I gave them any reason to give me the benefit of the doubt." She looked up, seeing a sense of concern and curiosity in the twins eyes. "I was not a good person. Malfoy and his boyfriends at their worst weren't as bad as I or my sisters were. We stole other kids' lunch money, shoved them in lockers, damaged public property, inflicted physical violence on others, Christ, my sisters even broke into other people's houses. We were awful, just awful children. The world didn't like us and the feeling was mutual." She then leaned back and looked up, trying to keep herself from looking at the stunned faces of two people that she hoped she could still call friends. "I don't know about my siblings, but when I ended up destroying the school in a fit of jealous rage, I saw a glimpse of what I could be and I didn't like it. Honestly, the fact that I'm here is probably the one thing that has caused me to actually change my attitude." She looked back down, only moving her eyes. "And that's why I didn't have any friends and only got one gift per year."

She expected that Fred and George wouldn't be very forgiving with her confession, she did not expect them to be looking at her with a bit of awe. "You tore down a school?" George asked. Marie blinked. "Yeah, did it with my own two hands. I think they're still repairing it." The twins grinned. "Wicked." they said. Marie chuckled wearily. "Of course, that would get you excited." She leaned back up, a small grin on her face. "I'm not recommending it. I only did it because a guy I like was dancing with the most popular girl in the class. I don't think Dumbledore or McGonagall would appreciate you destroying an entire castle." Fred grabs a present from a pile that he had placed on the coffee table, chuckling lightly. "True, but I'd be more concerned about what mum would do to us." "Yeah, there probably wouldn't even be bones left for them to find after she's through with us." Marie returned their grins. "Yeah," she conveyed, grabbing her package from Neville from off the floor. "When my mom found out what I did, she hired me out to the neighbors as a yard and house cleaner for the next month afterward. I had a fun time cleaning up my diabetic neighbor's insulin needles."

The gifts that she got were rather enjoyable, showing that she had more of a positive impact on others than she thought. Neville got her a book of European wizard horticulture, showing rather detailed drawings and paintings of various flowers, plants and trees. Dean got her an equipment tool box so that she could carry her art supplies more easily. Eliza Runcorn and Hermione got her books, with Eliza getting her a copy of _Famous Wizard Painters of the Renaissance by Alicia Whitworth _while Hermione had gotten her a copy of _The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. Ron had gotten her her own wizard's chess set (which was good, as she had gotten to the point where she had gotten so sick of Neville's pieces criticizing and mocking her choices that she had started to take petty revenge out on them by deliberately losing as badly as possible), and Lee Jordan had gotten her a box of caramel cobwebs. But she most appreciated the art supplies. Sally-Anne had sent her a film camera with a few rolls of film and two cylinders and four spolls along with instructions on how to preserve the film so that it's not damaged by sunlight. Harry got her some water color paints and paper, which was nice, but not as impressive to her as Seamus getting her 24 tubes of oil paint.

She opened up Fred and George's gift from the now nearly disappeared pile. It was a few bags of dungbombs. "Oh yeah, I can't wait to use these with some paper bags." "Why would you need paper bags for these?" George asked, opening up his gift from his brother Charlie (a pair of dragonhide boots). Marie smirks. "Oh come on, don't tell me that such legendary pranksters like yourselves have never heard of the flaming bag gag." She leaned forward, a devious grin spread across her face, the twins joining her with eager glee. "What you do is that you fill a bag with animal dung and place it outside someone's door. You then set the top of the bag on fire and knock on the door and run. The person comes to the door, sees the bag and stamps on it in panic, getting his foot covered in poo." Fred and George laugh loudly, with Fred clutching his gut in pain. "Oh man, you muggles are amazing sometimes you know that. Who would've thought you would come up with a prank that amazing." "You want to know more about comedy, wait until I introduce you to the Seven Words You Can't Say On TV."

Apparently their noise had gotten someone's attention, because Percy came groggily down the stairs, his horn rim glasses perched clumsily on his nose. He was wearing a set of pinstriped pajamas and carrying a jade green sweater with a gold embossed P on it. "Why are you two so loud? There are still students trying to sleep." Percy grumbled, adjusting his glasses so that they were properly arranged. "Oh come on Perce." Fred said, getting up off the couch and giving Percy his most innocent grin (which wasn't saying much). "We were just getting into the christmas spirit. You were even able to get Marie to have some enjoyment today." He gestured to Marie, who Percy saw had a small smile on her face as she waved at him. George then went up to him and draped his arm over his shoulder. "Come and join us Perce, Christmas is a time for family after all." "And don't think that we're taking no for an answer, we're not letting send the day with the other prefects big brother." Fred said, a threatening gleam in his eyes. Percy's eyes flickered around the room, looking for some escape route. He notices Marie, who gives him a mischievous smirk. "Hey guys, I'm going to get Harry and Ron down here." She conveys as she leaves the chair and starts to walk towards the boys staircase. "After all, if this is supposed to be a family Christmas, then you need the entire family don't ya?" The twins sent her identical grins before grabbing Percy's arms. "Come one Perce, let's get that sweater on ya and get your presents." "No, wait. I can do it myself. Stop!" Percy's protests were ignored as the twins frog marched him up the stairs towards his room, a chuckling Marie following behind them.

As the twins lead Percy towards his yuletide torture, Marie slipped from behind them and entered the first year male dorm, where Harry and Ron were. "Merry Christmas dweebs! The party has arrived!" She declared, her left index finger pointed high in the air. Harry and Ron look over at her in surprise. "Marie, what are you doing here?! Girls aren't allowed in the boys dorms!" Ron exclaims. "Really?" Marie states as she looks around. "Cause nothing is keeping me from being here other than a rule and well," she smirks as she flops down on one of the empty beds facing the two. "I'm not really one for following the rules." Harry and Ron stare at her with surprise. "Marie." Harry comments. "You're smiling." Marie grabs her mouth, touching the edges of her lips that were creasing upwards. "I know, kind of weird right now. And uh, it kind of hurts." She stops smiling and rubs her cheeks, letting out a small pained gasp. "God that's smarts." Harry went over to her in concern. "Why were trying to smile if you knew you were in pain." Marie, now with her face resting in a tired, melancholy state, looked over to her him. "Because, it's Christmas." she said softly. "And as much as I am struggling right now, I want today to be a happy one. I don't want you guys to be worried about me because I'm not happy right now, because you deserve to have a happy memory of today."

Harry gives her a disapproving look, his eyes filled with worry. Luckily for her Ron came to the rescue. "Oh come on Harry. You've never had a good Christmas you can remember. You deserve this." Harry sighed, clearly disagreeing, but he didn't voice it as he reluctantly nodded. Marie then looked around the room and saw that they had already opened almost all of their presents. "How rude. You two didn't even come downstairs to open up your gifts with the rest of us. Even Percy only opened one present before he came downstairs." She remarked cooly. She noticed a dark maroon wool sweater embossed with a golden R lying unworn on Ron's bed. She walked over to it and held it up to her chest in front of Ron. "Why aren't you wearing this?" Ron scrowled. "I hate maroon, yet my mum always makes me maroon sweaters for Christmas." Marie querked her eyebrow. "Did you tell her that you don't like maroon?" Ron descended into unintelligible grumbles which caused her to roll her eyes. "If you're not going to tell her then this," she stated before shaking the sweater. "Is on you." She then tossed the sweater into Ron's head. "Now suck it up and put it on before Fred and George get here and force it on."

While Ron was putting on his sweater, Harry was picking up his last present. It was baggy and light weight, wrapped in deep purple wrapping paper with tiny gold stars. He unwrapped it, revealing a silver blanket that fell to a disorganized heap to the floor. "I've heard of those." Ron gasped as he finished putting his arms in the sleeves. "If that's what I think it is-they're really rare and really valuable." "Really Ron?" Marie snarked as Harry picked it up and held it in his hands. "It just looks like a glossy blanket. I can get one of those from JCPenny for about 60 bucks." Ron gave her an excited grin before turning to Harry. "Go on, put it on." Harry, a look of skepticism on his face, swung the blanket around his shoulders and wrapped it around him. Marie's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. 'Wha?' Ron's grin widened as he started gesturing wildly to Harry's body, or rather the place where Harry's body used to be. "Haha! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" he exclaimed. He then turned to Marie. "That there is an invisibility cloak!" he stated it awe. Harry's disembodied head, after looking down in shock at now longer having any feet, sprinted to the mirror to look at himself in the mirror. After looking at his reflection in amazement for a few seconds, he threw the cloak over his head, causing him to completely disappear. "Well," Marie squeaked out, her eyes flickering around the room to avoid looking at the empty void of space in front of the mirror. "Least you can pull being invisibile off better than Jessica Alba."

As Harry was taking the cloak off, Marie noticed a piece of parchment on the floor. She picked it up and noticed some writing on it written in flowing cursive that had a bit of a bounce to it.

Your father left this in my possession before he dead,

It is time is was returned to you,

Use it well.

A Merry Christmas to You.

She handed the letter over to Harry. "Who do you think sent this? Cause this guy sounds way too familiar with you." "No idea," Harry stated as he read the note. "I don't recognize the handwriting." He handed the note to Ron. "Why did my dad give this away if it's so valuable?" "More importantly," Marie questioned. "Why give it back now? Most of the wizarding world doesn't know you lived with magic hating scum, why didn't he just send it there?" Both of the boys shrugged.

At that moment, Fred hurried into the room, Percy walking down the stairs carrying his presents while George held him at wand point. "What're you all standing around for? We're about to continue opening up the presents." Marie turned to them with a big realistic smile on her face. "Oh I was just chastising them." she stated while Harry hid the cloak. "They were just too impatient to wait. They opened all of their presents by the time I got here." "Oh how rude." Fred stated faux critically. "How on earth did they forget that they were supposed to open their gifts with their family." George stated as he slipped into the room. "Was it something we did Forge? Did we not raise little icky Ronnikins right?" Fred asked as he placed his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Oh where did we go wrong?" George cried before collapsing overdramatically into Fred's arms wailing. Marie stuffed her hand into her mouth to muffle her laughter while Harry fell into giggles and Percy rolled his eyes. "There, there Forge." Fred said as he patted his twins back. "We can't blame ourselves for the actions of others." "Your right Gred." George said as he leaped back up. "But we can give them retribution." The twins turned their heads to Ron, evil grins on their faces and their eyes glowing white. Ron backed up on the bed as the duo approached. "What are you guys doing? Wait. NO!" The two of them lifted Ron over their heads and paraded him towards the door. "Hey, let me go!" "No can do mate!" "We need to spread Christmas cheer!" "All the way to the Great Hall!" The two of them carried Ron down the stairs towards the portrait hole, the twins singing _For he's a Jolly Good Fellow_ intercut with Ron's cursing, leaving the other three forgot on the landing. Percy, confused and still carrying his presents in his hands, turned to the two first years. "Does that mean we're not opening presents right now?" He asked hopefully.

It was a surprisingly intimate and enjoyable day. Breakfast had been grand, with stacks of belgian waffles and maple sausages covered in powdered sugar. Afterward, they went outside for a snowball fight (Percy being dragged out against his will) and then tried to learn how to skate (lots of falling over and slamming into the ice occured). After they reentered the castle for lunch, they returned to the common room for Percy to open his presents (most of which were books and school supplies, though Marie got a giggle when Fred and George's gift was a t-shirt that said 'I'm a well practiced brown-noser.'). They then spent a good few hours drinking hot chocolate, telling Christmas stories and Marie introducing them to smores. And then, came the Christmas feast. Hundreds of massive turkeys, piles of roasted and baked potatoes filled with bacon bits, cheese and sour cream, turrets of buttered peas and silver boats filled with brown gravy and cranberry sauce.

"Marie, come on pull this." Marie looked up from her potato and saw Ron holding a Christmas cracker. Marie's eyes flickered from the cracker to Ron's grinning face. "That thing's not going to fart on me, is it?" "No, come on, I want to see what gifts are inside." Marie grabbed one end of the cracker and the two pulled. With a massive bang the cracker exploded, creating a massive cloud of smoke. When the smoke dissipated, the two faces were covered in soot. Ron let out a small cough, causing Harry and the twins to fall into a fit of laughter. Marie glared at them as she wiped soot out of her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yuck it up." she said as she picked up a naval officers hat that looked like something Admiral Nelson wore at the battle of Copenhagen. "At least I'm the captain of the Pinafore." she stated snobbly as she placed it on her head. They then heard a sharp crunch. "Ow!" Percy exclaimed as he grabbed his mouth. "You okay?" Harry asked. "No, I think I nearly broke my tooth." He reached into his piece of flaming Christmas pudding and extracted a sickle. The twins grinned. "Hey Perce look on the bright side." "Even if you lose the tooth, at least you're going to make a lot of money this year." The rest of the table (besides Marie, who just looked confused at the sickle being in the cake to begin with) chuckled, even Percy, as the ceiling of the Great Hall started to snow.

**So, uh, how's that baseball season huh? Not even a week in and already one team has been knocked out of commision. *Sigh* Look, I only really care about the Red Sox. My late grandfather used to sell ice cream at Fenway Park during the Great Depression and it's been my team since I was six and well, (looks to the side and sees abysmal 1-4 record and last place in the AL East)...yeah I think it's best if we cut the cord now. Now I'm not stating this to be selfish. The plan to bring back baseball and reopen it the way as it is was a terrible idea. The NHL and NBA plans focused on isolation and intense quarantining, the NBA by placing all their teams in a massive sports complex cut off from the rest of the world and the NHL by having their teams play in two stadiums in a country that has the outbreak contained. The MLB however had their teams still travel, even when one more than a third of the league (the Rangers, the Astros, the Diamondbacks, the Padres, the Giants, the Dodgers, the Athletics, the Braves, the Rays, the Royals, the Cardinals and the Marlins) all play in states where cases of Covid-19 are on the rise. The results are now obvious. More than twenty players on the Marlins have been confirmed to have contacted Covid, along with two coaches. They were also in contact with players from the Phillies and the Yankees, making it likely that they transported the virus with them back to Philadelphia and New York City. Now, I understand if people will be upset if the season is canceled. I was too when the new version of the XFL was torpedoed by the virus back in March. But I'm not going to put having sports over other people's lives. Given how quickly the pandemic tore through the Marlin's, it will likely happen to other teams. And I don't want that to happen. And to those that will complain about there not being a World Series, we've been here before, back in 1994. Baseball still survived, it still thrived, in fact it improved. A similar thing will happen here, if in a different way. And if you still want to watch sports, MLS is coming back. You can watch that if that appeals to you. The NBA and NHL are again returning so definitely watch that. Hell, watch golf and Nascar, or the European circuit if you need your live sports fix that much. And to be clear, I hate the latter three, so me recommending them is like if I recommended someone watch **_**I Spit on Your Grave**_**. Or read, I suggest you read or play video games, I've recently been Stardew Valley and it's really good. So, enjoy whatever sports you like and stay safe. See ya next time.**


	21. The Mirror of Erised

** Sorry that this is late again. Firstly, I've been busy writing more chapter outlines for the story, as I was running out of content. After this chapter, I only have two other chapter outlines already finished so I'm going to be taking a bit of a break focusing on getting two more chapters and an omake chapter done before moving towards writing them up for publishing. Secondly, hockey playoffs have begun. While I was writing the outlines I've also been spending everyday watching the playoffs on the NHL channel and on NBCSN. The teams I'm supporting are my favorite team, The Vegas Golden Knights, my second favorite team, The New York Islanders, and my hometown team, The Philadelphia Flyers. And if there's one thing you can say about the playoffs is that they're tense, unpredictable, and energetic. I mean, who saw the Arizona Coyotes winning their series against the Nashville Predators in overtime, or the 12th seeded Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Candians beating the fifth seeded Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins, or the Knights scoring four unanswered points in the third period to beat the Dallas Stars. If there's one positive thing that the Covid-19 pandemic gave us, it has given us the best hockey playoffs of all time. That still doesn't negate all the negatives it's given us, like an economic crash, millions unemployed, hundreds of thousands dead, millions being kicked out of their homes due to being unable to pay their rent and our government still not being able to overcome their petty dickery to save peoples lives because SOME PEOPLE DECIDED TO MAKE A HUMAN HEALTH CRISIS A PARTISAN DEBATE! Hey, remember when we thought that the biggest thing that would happen this year was that the president would be impeached. Remember how his trail was only six months ago? Yeah, that was only six months ago but it feels like it happened six decades ago doesn't it? It truly is amazing just how awful our collective existence is, isn't it? But still, it's nice that we're thrown a bone every once in a while. My favorite bone is the Supreme Court deciding that LGBTQIA employees can't be discriminated or fired by employers based on their sexual preference or sexual identification, saying that they are protected under the fourteenth amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (although I'm still surprised that the vote was 6-3 and that one of the votes supporting the decision came from a Trump appointed justice. Though then again, that same justice and the other Trump appointed justice also ruled against Trump on his tax returns, so maybe I should accept that human beings are more complex than assumptions should present)! But that is not the main reason that publication is slow right now. I'm currently in an intense interview process for a position as a life insurance agent and not only have I had three different interviews, but I had to do some cold casing that involved me going around and conducting fifty surveys in order to get me used to cold calling. I'm hoping I get the job, but there are a lot of maybes going on in that statement. I really want this job, I like the company I'm applying to and I like the people that have interviewed me and I want to work with them. But that's enough of that. On with the show! I do not own **_**Harry Potter **_**or **_**Ed, Edd and Eddy**_**, those are owned by J.K. Rowling, AT&T and Warner Media.**

**The Mirror of Erised**

"You're kidding." "No, I'm not. That mirror showed me my parents. I...I saw them. For the first time, I actually saw them." When Marie had woken up on Boxing day, she didn't think that the first thing that one of her friends would tell her that he had slipped out last night under his new invisibility cloak to sneak into the library's restricted section and through a misadventure found a magic mirror that showed him his late parents. It definitely showed her that even though she had seen some strange things in the four months since she had been introduced to the wizarding world, there were still some parts of it that were able to surprise her. 'Still, first time he's seen his parents' faces? How is it possible that his relatives hate him and his family that much that they won't even keep pictures of them?'

"You could've woken us up." Ron stated crossly, glaring at Harry in annoyance. "You can come with me tonight. I'm going to go back and I want to show them to you." "I'd like to see your parents. What about you Marie?" Marie rolled her eyes, her face showing a disinterest that would earn Daphne's approval. "Eh, why not? Not like I have anything better to do?" she replied emotionlessly as she went to take a sip from her goblet of warm apple cider. That brief period of joy that she had the previous day had faded completely and had been replaced by the return of the depressed haze that had been hovering in her brain throughout the last two weeks. It seemed as though nothing could break through her stoney and empty shroud. "Great. I also want to see both of your families, all the Weasleys and Kankers. You can show me your sisters, brothers and all of them." Marie choked, spraying cider out of her mouth and coughing harshly. 'Except that.' she thought as she tried to regain her breath. "Are you alright?" Ron asked. "I'm fine. I'm fine." Marie wheezed as she put the goblet back on the table. "The cider went down the wrong pipe." As she leaned back up, she noticed something odd. Harry's plate was empty. And not in a way that suggested that he was finished cleaning it. "Harry, aren't you going to eat anything?" Marie asked, her worry hidden by her slight glare. "I'm not hungry." Her eyes creased as Ron's widened. Harry usually ate just as much as Ron. The only time that he had struggled to eat was before his first Quidditch match. "Harry, are you alright? Are you sick?" Harry gives her a blank look. "No."

This odd behavior lasted throughout the day. At breakfast they were barely able to get him to eat two pancakes and three pieces of bacon and at lunch he ate even less, only half of an apple and a hot biscuit. Nothing seemed to interest him. There wasn't that much of a concern when Harry refused to play wizard's chess Ron, as Harry was terrible at it and Ron was skilled enough to put most chess champions to shame. But then Fred and George asked him if he wanted to go flying so that he could practice bludger dodging and he said no. That really concerned them. Their worry grew throughout the day as they tried everything to try to get Harry to stop thinking about that mirror. They talked about Quidditch and the standings of the National Quidditch League, they discussed more ideas to get Malfoy expelled or to catch him in a prank, they tried to involve him in homework that they had gotten over the holiday, they played gobstones, they even tried to talk to him about researching for Flamel and trying to stop Snape. But it was all in vain, Harry would either not bother to listen, lost in his own thoughts, or would respond with disinterest. But mid afternoon, they had completely given up, leaving Harry to sit on a coach in the Gryffindor common room gazing distantly into the fire at something only he could see.

"There's something wrong with that mirror." Marie spat as she gazed out a window on the third floor. "How'd you figure?" Ron asked. "That thing has been affecting Harry all day. He's barely eating, he's not doing anything outside of starting into space. Something's wrong when a Seeker is not interested in the sport that he plays!" She had started pacing the floor. "I don't know if it's just some mental suggestion or just outright brainwashing but that THING is twisting his mind." "You sound worried. Are you thinking it might happen to us?" "YES!" Marie leaned against the wall, hyperventilating as she dragged her hands over her eyes. "I don't think we should go." "Marie, we don't know if the mirror has any mental effects. For all we know, it could just be a normal magic mirror." Ron walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "Look, we know that Harry never knew about his family before he found out he was a wizard. This is the first time he actually saw what they looked like. People can say that he looks like his dad with his mom's eyes, but being able to actually see them? If you were him, wouldn't you be desperate to see them again?"

Marie considered this and she hated to admit that Ron did have a point. There was some part of her that knew just how Harry felt. Growing up with stories of her father, of how much she was like him, of who he was. Even the pictures he had of him weren't enough anymore. She wanted to know what happened to him, where he went, who he was as a person. It could be obsessive sometimes. "Okay, we'll go. But at the first sign of anything suspicious, we leave." Ron nods. "Even if we have to drag Harry out against his will?" "Ron, at this rate, that's likely to become a certainty."

Looking back on it, she really wished she had been wrong. When Ron and Marie went down for dinner, they noticed that Harry had changed, and it unfortunately wasn't for the better. Whereas before Harry had been lethargic and listless, he was now rather twitchy and high strung. His eyes flicked around the room, as if expecting someone to accuse him of replacing Dumbledore's shampoo with a mixer of ink and urine. As time went on, they saw that Harry didn't eat that night and when they returned to the common room he spent two hours before the three of them went to bed staring at a clock, tapping his fingers against the desk as it slowly ticked. When the three of them returned to the common room three hours later, Harry was practically vibrating in desperate glee. The three of them went under the invisibility cloak and slowly crept through the castle.

"Harry, I'm freezing. We should just forget this and go back to bed." Ron whispered. It was an hour later. They had tried to retrace Harry steps after he left the library the previous night for the last hour, but since Harry had been more focused in not getting caught by Filch and Snape, he couldn't really remember where he was going, even if he remembered the destination. In addition while Harry's enthusiasm kept the cold away, the same couldn't be said for Ron and Marie. Ron wasn't much of a morning person, but that didn't mean that he was a night person either. Marie meanwhile didn't have any pajama pants, leaving her legs exposed to the night air. In addition, neither of them had any slippers and Harry was so insistent that they head out immediately that he didn't give them anytime to put on socks, leaving their feet exposed to the frigid stone floors of the castle corridors. Both of them were miserable. "Come on Harry, my feet are getting cold." Ron complained quietly as they passed a tall female ghost. "Yeah, I'd rather not take the chance that walking across cold floors can give me frostbite." Marie muttered bitterly. "Come on guys, we're nearly there." Harry responded excitedly. "It's here, it's here." he stated as he approached a door near a suit of armor and opened it. "YES!" Harry threw the cloak off and sprinted into the room, Ron and Marie following behind him, shrugging the cloak off them.

Inside the room was a mirror five meters high and wrapped in a solid gold frame. It stood straight and rigid on two clawed feet and shone in the moonlight, the light reflecting off it's surface as if it had recently been cleaned. Harry was staring into it, almost reverently, as if he were about to start worshipping the thing. As the two of them got closer, Marie noticed that ornate writing was carved, almost seared into the frame above the mirror. It said _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. _'What is that, Latin or Old English?' Marie thought as she moved closer to Harry, still giving him a respectful distance. 'Whatever he's seeing there, I hope it's not contagious.'

"Do you see?" Harry whispered. Ron and Marie looked at each other warily. "Harry, we can't see anything." Ron responded. Harry grabbed Ron and dragged him in front of the mirror with him. "Look!" He exclaimed as he pointed at the mirror. "Look at them all... there are loads of them." "I just see the two of us Harry." Ron stated nervously. "Look at it properly, go on, stand where I am." Harry backed away from the mirror, leaving Ron in front of it. Ron eyes grew as he stared at the mirror, his mouth dropping in amazement. "Can you see your family?" Harry asked eagerly. "No...I'm alone, and older. And I'm head boy!" "What?!" Harry exclaimed. "Yeah I'm with him, what?!" Marie also exclaimed. "I am, I'm standing there with the badge that Bill used to wear. And I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup-I'm Quidditch captain too!" He looked over to them grinning. "Hey, do you think that this mirror shows the future." "How can it? All my family are dead." He then turned to Marie. "Why don't you have a go, maybe you can see them." Harry stated, shoving Marie forward in front of the mirror. Marie stumbled at the force of the shove, accidentally knocking Ron over and almost to the floor, forcing him to regain his balance outside of the view of the mirror. Regaining her balance, she was about to turn to glare at Harry when something caught her attention in the mirror, causing her to gasp.

It was herself, and yet at the same time it wasn't. She was older, much like Ron had described his vision, but where Ron had stated that he was a teenager late in his years at Hogwarts, this Marie was in her late twenties or early thirties, standing at a height of 1.8 meters. Her hair, at her current age being straight and short, in the mirror was long and wavy, going down to her lower back. On her face she wore black lipstick and mascara and several piercings, two on each side of her nostrils, three each on her upper ear and a pair on her earlobes and two small piercings on her left upper lip. She wore black designer skinny jeans, a pair of three inch black heels, a blood red short sleeve polo shirt, a loose fitting black tie and a black leather and chain collar around her neck. Her hands were adorned with blue nail polish and her arms had two tattoos that sprouted from under her sleeves, on her right arm a red and gold chinese dragon and on her left arm was a silver and blue tiger whose head curled up against a platinum watch with two sapphires and two emeralds representing the cardinal directions. The strangest thing to Marie was that she wasn't alone.

Standing next to her with his arm around her shoulder was a tall man about 1.9 meters in height. Unlike the goth inspired look that older Marie had, the man wore more formal clothing, a combination of a light blue collared shirt and pale green tie underneath a light gray sweater and a pair of khakis and brown dress shoes. But the most recognizable thing about him was a familiar sock hat that covered his hair. She knew who he was immediately. As she looked closer, with a little bit of hope, she saw that on both of their right hands had a gold ring around their ring fingers. Her older self was snuggling into his shoulder when she saw her older self sprout a sly grin. Her older self moved closer and wrapped her arms around her husband and gave him a sultry gaze. He blushed as Marie saw her older self speak words that she couldn't hear, but she did see his blush flush a deeper and deeper red. Unnoticed by him, Marie saw that her older self's hand was creeping closer and closer to the edge of his hat. Then, her older self pulled his hat down over his eyes before bopping him on the nose. Her older self chuckled as Double-D returned his hat to the top of his head, grumbling. And then the amount of people in the mirror grew.

First to join was a woman with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail that went down to the middle of her back. She was freckled with a pair of brass earrings and wore a lime green blouse with dark blue skinny jeans and a pair of red sneakers. The woman had apparently seen what the older Marie had done, as she was chuckling behind her hand. She removed the hand to show that she had a radiant buck toothed smile. She then sprouted a cunning grin of her own and snuck up behind Double-D. With strength and surprise, she grabbed the back of his head and shoved it forward. He stumbled and grabbed Marie in a vice grip to keep himself from falling over, causing his open mouth to smack into Marie's, bringing them into a kiss. The two of them blushed heavily as they withdrew, causing May to start laughing heavily. Angered, the older Marie chased after her, the two of them flying in and out of frame like a Scooby Doo cartoon.

The two siblings disappeared out of the frame for a twelfth time, but when they returned, they weren't chasing each other anymore. Instead the two of them were being dragged back into frame by their ears. The person dragging them was a redhead with short curly hair cut just above her milk chocolate brown eyes. It was obvious by the annoyed glare that she was giving the both of them that it was Lee. She wore a light blue denim jacket over a magenta t-shirt with blue sweatpants with a white stripe on each side and black steel toed boots. She had evolved and was now acting more like their mother had been when they were younger and causing trouble as she glared at them reproachfully. A devious smirk then appeared on her face before she placed both of her younger siblings under her left arm and started to give both of them nogies, showing that she hadn't changed that much. The older version of May and Marie squirmed out of her grasp and while May was busy trying to fix her hair style while grumbling bitterly, Marie shoved Lee, looking like she was hoping to get a rise from her, only for Lee to start chuckling, causing Marie to pout. But then something unexpected happened.

A man with long shoulder length wavy black hair, a goatee and an outfit consisting of a black dress shirt, black dress and black dress shoes. While there were a few gray hairs in his goatee and his hair, he looked almost exactly like he did in the photographs that her mother had shown her at a time that seems so long ago. He was laughing, almost like a dog when it barks. Next to him, watching her children tenderly, was her mother. She was much older, her strawberry blonde hair now almost silver and tied back in a bun. There were wrinkles under her eyes, which were framed behind a set of thin wire frame glasses. But she also looked healthier, she looked less stressed, her hips weren't as wide and she wore a pale yellow shirt and cut jeans. She had a peaceful smile on her face that Marie had never seen on her. She then noticed that she wasn't the only one who looked healthier, as when Lee smiled back at her, Marie noticed that the caps Lee got for the two root canals she had when she was seven weren't there.

Then two new characters ran into the frame. They were children, the oldest looking no older than eleven and the youngest no older than seven. The elder child was a girl with long black hair wearing a teal blue shirt and green shorts, while the younger child was a boy with spiky blonde hair wearing a red and black striped shirt and dark blue shorts. They were darting around the adults, the boy gleefully sprinting while carrying a letter in his hands while the girl chased after him in anger. They weaved in and out of frame, around the adults, between them, under and at one point they even went over Lee. The chase ended when Marie grabbed the boy and lifted him up into her arms, causing him to shriek in surprise. She started to smother the boy, causing him to try to get away. The girl, now shown to be her future daughter, pouting at her mother's action until she felt her father tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw him give a coy smile before giving her the letter. She takes it and looks up at her mother, who gives her a wink, before she smiles and hugs her father and opens her letter. She then starts cheering, jumping up and down as she shows her mom before running and showing her grandparents and her aunts, who interacted with her with pride and joy.

It was perfect. It was everything that she wanted. What was it to her that this wasn't real? What did it matter that the life that was being presented was likely to never happen? This vision was hers, it belonged to her alone. And nobody was going to keep her from staying here staying at this hypnotic and poignant dream. At least, that's what she thought. But then the vision faded and she became dimly aware of someone shaking her arm and shouting at her.

"MARIE! MARIE! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Marie dimly returned to the world of the living. She was back, back in the moonlight room somewhere on the fourth floor in the early hours of the morning in the middle of winter in the Scottish Highlands, standing in front of a magic mirror in a cold stoney castle in her pajamas. As she returned to a state of coherent consciousness, much like coming out of a drug induced haze where you don't know where you are and find yourself with a strange man or woman who is just as confused as you are, she found that she wasn't where she originally was. Where she had previously been about 2 meters away from the mirror, she was now less than half a meter from it. Ron was grasping her right arm, trying to drag her from the mirror as her left hand stretched out towards the mirror's surface, almost touching it with her finger tips. Still in a slight daze, she let Ron lead her over towards a desk off to the side and out of view of the mirror, where he sat her down.

"What in Merlin's name happened back there?! You looked like you were possessed!" Marie blinked, looking into Ron's worried blue eyes. She felt hazy. She liked her mouth. It was dry. With difficulty, she moved her arms. It felt like she was moving sand. A headache was coming on. She opened her mouth. "I...I don't know." she rasped. "When I was looking into that mirror, I just couldn't look away, I couldn't leave, I didn't want to leave." "What did you see? Did you see your family?" The two of them looked up. They had forgotten that Harry was there, but now he was kneeling down, looking up at her eyes. Her eyes darted away as she regained her breath. "Yes and no." She got up, Ron still holding her arm. She was grateful for that, as she felt a strong need to get back in front of the mirror. "It was a life that I always wanted. The life I want to achieve and the life I started with at the same time. It was, it was." She sighed and shook her head. "It was just a hopeless dream. A past I never had leading to a future I'll never see." It was stunning to her that that sentence was such a struggle to say.

She looked behind her friends, to the mirror still stood in the center of the room. There was a strong desire to return to being in front of that mirror, but that was fought heavily against by a new feeling, fear. That mirror had manipulated her mind, controlled her body, took away her free will. Whatever that thing was, there wasn't any doubt left in her mind that that mirror was infused with dark magic. Anger now coursed through her veins. Steeling herself and resisting the urge to go back to the front of the mirror, she instead went behind it.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, concern in his voice. Marie grabs the side of the mirror before twisting her head so that her visible eye is looking at him. "I'm breaking this." "WHAT?! WHY?!" "Because this thing is dangerous." she spat as she bent over and braced her hand underneath the mirror's frame. "Whatever magic this thing has is twisting our minds, forcing us to continue to gaze at this mirror like we were Narcissus! And I for one will not be allowing any of us to starve to death entranced by something that isn't real!" "But it showed me my parents! It showed you and your family happy! It showed Ron achieving his dreams!" Harry shouted, approaching Marie with his hands balled into fists. "Exactly!" Marie shouted in response. "It showed me what I wanted, it showed Ron what he wanted and it showed you what you wanted! But it can't bring it here! This mirror works off of drug logic. It gives you a hit to draw you in and then continues to reinforce that high until you're so hooked that that's all you think about! All it's doing is manipulating you!" "You're just trying to keep me from seeing my family!" "THAT ISN'T YOUR FAMILY!" she shreached. "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HALF OF THE PEOPLE IN THE MIRROR EVEN EXISTED! WHEN I SAW THE FUTURE VERSION OF MY FAMILY, I AT LEAST HAVE PICTURES OR MEMORIES OF THEM AS A REFERENCE POINT OF WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THAT, SO WHAT YOU SEE AS YOUR PARENTS MIGHT NOT EVEN BE WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE!" She started to lift the mirror, her arms straining against the weight of the five ton mirror. "I'm sorry Harry, but I'm not going to let you waste away staring at something that's no longer there!"

She did not expect the sudden burst of pain on her right cheek, nor the taste of copper in her mouth. She then felt another burst of pain on her right eye, as well as a ringing in her ears, her vision flashing white spots as she let go of the mirror. She hit her head on the hard stone floor, intensifying the pain in her head as the ringing increased. And then she started having trouble breathing. A vice grip pressed down on her throat, causing pain at the back of her tongue. She started rasping, the white spots disappearing as the room came into hazy clarity. She saw a pair of round glasses over emerald green eyes on a snarling face. 'Huh, I guess I should've seen this coming. Probably wasn't a good idea to try to destroy it while he was still in the room.' A pair of arms wrapped around Harry's throat then, pulling him off of Marie's. She gasps as she started to get up, rubbing her throat as she regained her breath. She looked up and saw Ron struggling to restrain Harry, as Harry was ramming his elbows into Ron's sides in an attempt to make him let go. "Ron grab his other arm!" she shouted as she got up and sprinted towards them. She grabbed Harry's left arm as Ron grabbed his right. "Come on!" she commanded and the two of them dragged their unwilling prisoner out of the room and towards Gryffindor Tower, Harry shouting at them as they moved.

As they moved down the corridors and up the flights of stairs back towards the tower, Harry started to resist his bondage less and less. Eventually when they reached the seventh floor, Harry stopped. He went limp in their arms as he let them listlessly drag him back towards the portrait hole. "Bittere roote." Ron said. "It certainly is." The Fat Lady said, looking rather hungover and a spilled goblet of some amber liquid on the ground. The portrait swung open and they pulled themselves into the common room and up the stairs to the 1st year boys dorm. They tucked him into his bed and sat down on Ron's. A cold wind was audible outside of the window, its howl roaring in the night. None of them slept.

"Really? He did that?" "Yeah, but I don't think that it was a conscious action. That mirror is twisting his mind to the point where it's the only thing that he cares about." "Do you two think he remembers?" "I'd be surprised if he didn't, but it's a possibility." It was the next morning in the Great Hall. Ron and Marie were sitting across from Fred and George at breakfast the next morning. Overhead the enchanted ceiling was showing a bombardment of a massive blizzard, with thick snowflakes flying through the air at 90 kilometers per hour. Marie and Ron looked terrible. Neither had bathed and they haven't slept a wink since they woke up to head to the mirror they both now feared. Both of them had bags under their eyes, though one of Marie's was hidden by the black eye she now sported on the right side of her face. Both had caffeinated beverages in front of them. Ron had tried a regular coffee with cream, but he had shoved it away saying that it tasted like muddy water, so he was currently drinking his second steaming cup of black chai tea. Marie on the other hand was finishing off her third drink of six shot espresso. It didn't help their mood, but at least it kept them functioning.

"Still I can't believe that that mirror affected Harry so much that he tried to strangle you." Fred stated grimly, nursing his own cup of chai. "I know that he can have a temper when he gets angry, but he's not one to get violent." George also muttered, a cup of green jasmine was in front of him. Marie took a sip from her small cup, looking at their troubled faces. "I know, that's why I think it's a good idea if we destroy that mirror as quickly as possible. You guys think you can get the beater bats from the Quidditch shed?" Marie asked. "Sure. Shouldn't be too hard. Madam Hooch decided to stay here this year so all we have to do is tell her that you want to practice making breakaways while dodging bludgers and we should be able to get the bats and smash that mirror to pieces." George answered. A loud howl came from above, causing all four of them to look up. They look back down. "But not today." Fred finished, drinking his mug. "Yeah, we're more likely to get lost in the snow and freeze to death before we even get to the Quidditch shed." Ron replied. "Least that explains why Hagrid isn't here." Marie muttered as she finished her espresso.

She looked over at Harry. He was sitting over at the nearly abandoned Hufflepuff table, gazing into one of the fires on the wall. The other three follow her gaze. He had been staring at it ever since they got there an hour ago. The four of them wordlessly got up and walked over towards him, stopping on the other side of the table away from him. "Hey mate, are you alright?" Fred asked. "Yes." Harry whispered disinterestedly. "Do you want to play a game of chess?" Ron asked. "I'm not interested." Harry answered. "Well, do you want to have some hot chocolate?" George asked. "Not really." Harry uttered. The four of them looked at each other worriedly. "Harry, I know that you want to see that mirror, but please, no matter what that mirror shows you, it's not going to bring them back." Harry didn't answer. "Harry, I know that you don't want to hear this from me but I'm begging you, don't go back to that mirror tonight." Marie said, tears rolling down her face. Harry turned sharply, an intense, hateful glare blazing from his face. The four of them back up, terrified. Harry remained glaring at them for a good minute before turning back around, his gaze returning to the fire. Knowing that there would be nothing else that they could possibly say to him, the four of them returned to their seats, the four of them grasping the mugs to keep their hands from shaking.

"It's getting worse. If we don't destroy that mirror soon, he's never going to leave that room. Not without force anyway." It was the late afternoon. The blizzard had intensified as the day had gone on to the point where the gates to the entrance hall had to be barricaded to keep it from collapsing. Despite this, Marie and Ron had decided to spend some time in a courtyard by the Transfiguration classroom. It was cold and biting, forcing Marie to cover her face with a balaclava and to offer Ron her spare one. "We're not going to do anything if this storm doesn't let up. Unless you want to risk detention by breaking off pieces of furniture from the common room and using table legs as clubs." Ron states coldly. "Honestly I'm prepared to actually do that if the storm doesn't let up by tomorrow." Marie replies. "Even without staring at that thing all the time it's killing him. You noticed how he didn't eat anything at breakfast or lunch." "Yeah, he didn't drink anything either. Nor did he eat or drink last night at dinner." "Exactly, if we don't destroy the mirror soon he's going to starve to death, if he doesn't die from thirst first."

"Speaking of eating or drinking, I noticed that you didn't do any of that earlier at lunch either." Marie looks down and starts rubbing her gloved hands together. "Is the mirror affecting you as well?" She turns to him, a tired expression in her eyes. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't. I don't know what would've happened if I had touched the mirror, but I don't want to find out. I'm already struggling enough with keeping myself away from that room." "Really?" Marie nods. "Weird. I was in front of that mirror as well, so why aren't I feeling any desire to go back to it?" "Probably because you weren't in front of it long enough to have much of an effect on you. Or maybe because what you saw wasn't as emotionally poignant for you to leave that much of an effect on you. Either way, it's actually rather fortunate that you don't feel that way because you still have a clean mind and can think about the situation rationally." She turned back to the storm, the darkening sky causing the torch flames to cast a dark and menacing glow along the wall of the terrace. "I, on the other hand, don't have that luxury. I'm not sure how that mirror works when it comes to its mental influence, but I'm worried about its effects on me. For all I know I'm just as likely to develop an intensified desire to look in the mirror again as I am to lose that desire. And I'm terrified by the prospect that I'll be acting like Harry is now tomorrow."

The two of them stood silently, the harsh roar of the wind the only sound filling the courtyard. They stood there for five minutes before Ron opened his mouth. "What did you see in that mirror that made you scared enough to decide to destroy the mirror? I noticed that when you told my brothers what happened last night that you didn't mention what you saw in the mirror. Bloody hell you barely told us what you saw while we were there last night and even then you were vague about it." Marie rubbed her gloved hand over her eyes, holding back a wince as she brushed one finger over her bruise. "I saw...I saw." she choked. It was harder to get the words out than she thought it would've. "I saw a future. A future that I want to happen so badly." she answered sadly. "I was married to the guy I like back home. I had kids. My dad was back and married to my mom. She didn't look as stressed. Everything was...perfect."

She bit her lip, inhaling a sharp intake of breath. 'I will not cry. I will not cry.' She braced herself on a stone pillar, the snow hitting her with the stinging sensation of paintball pellets. It felt oddly soothing. "That actually sounds very nice. But, if you knew that, why were you so passionate about destroying the mirror earlier this morning?" "Because it's like I said then, it's just a lie." she said as she turned away from the openings. "It was a fantasy. A fantasy that more likely than not will never come true. Double-D is as likely to marry Nazz or May or some other girl than he hasn't met yet as he is me. Heck it's more likely that he'll marry Hermione in the future, seeing that they share similar interests and have the same passion for education and learning. I also know that it's almost a certainty that I'll never see my dad again, wherever he is, and that I'll probably keep my hair short instead of let it grow out and wear bright clothes rather than become a goth. Christ for all I know my metabolism will crap out and by the time I'm the same age I was in the mirror I'll weigh thirty stone. All I saw was a possibility. And I can't spend the rest of my life obsessing over what might be or what could've been. And to see Harry obsess over what might've been, to forget to live with us in the here and now, it, it's heartbreaking."

The two of them went over to a bench next to a corridor. Marie slumped into it, physically and emotionally exhausted. Ron quietly joined her. Marie sighed as she watched the snow continue to pile up on the low wall. "What I don't understand is why my mother and both of my sisters were there. May I might be able to see as I'm still writing to her, but I'm not on speaking terms with Lee or my mom. If that mirror shows us what we want, then why would it show me people that I don't want to see right now?" Ron put his fist under his check, his other index finger tapping his leg as he sat there, pondering. His eyebrows then suddenly shot up, his eyes widening as he stumbled upon an answer.

"Maybe, you did want to see them." Marie shot up in disbelief. "What!? No, no I don't want to see them! I don't want to talk to them, I don't want to write to them! As far as I'm concerned they can wallow in their own stink for all I care!" Ron stared at her, clearly not convinced. "Marie, you said that that mirror shows us what we want. It showed Harry what he wanted most of all, it showed me what I wanted most of all and you admitted that it showed you most of what you wanted most of all. Admit it, you want all of your family in your life and you want all of them to be happy." Marie opened her mouth again to protest only for Ron to interrupt her again. "And before you deny it, I'm not the one that spent most of the last month acting like a depressed husk because you were homesick." "I wasn't homesick!" she growled. Ron quirked an eyebrow at her, causing her to blush. "Well, not completely." "Not completely? What on earth did they do to make you this miserable?"

And so Marie told him everything. About how her mother had hid that her father was a wizard, why he left them, that he was still alive, that she was registered for this school from the day she was born, about how she apparently had a vault she never knew about. She talked about the massive burst of accidental magic she had afterward, about how afterward her sisters had shut her out, as if she was some kind of wild dog that would bite them at the smallest opportunity. While May had got over it and apologized, Lee hadn't and in fact had gotten cold and even hostile with her. She talked about how angry she was, at Lee, at her mother, at her father, at herself, at the wizarding world in general. She talked about her struggle with forgiveness by extending the olive branch and her pride in wanting her family to apologize first, her guilt in hiding her communication with her little sister, her guilt on how her last words to her mother were ones of bitterness. Every bit of confused and strained mismash of anger, frustration, bitterness, sorrow, understanding, pain, desire, fear, worry, misery and angst spewed out of her like a broken faucet. By the time she was finished, she looked just like she felt, physically and emotionally exhausted.

Ron stared at her with pity, watching as one of his best friends came close to suffering a mental breakdown. He grabbed her hand and gently grasped it. "Hey hey, it's alright. It's okay. Just take a few deep breaths." She did, having not noticed that she had started hyperventilating. "Now, it's okay that you feel this way. And considering how stubborn you can be, it's no wonder that you kept such a big grudge. And honestly, your older sister sounds like she needs to apologize first. You don't need to write to her if you don't want to." Marie nodded, a sense of relief washing over her. "But, what's going on between you and your mum can't continue. It's tearing you apart and you're on the verge of a complete emotional collapse. Yes, what she did wasn't right, but you weren't exactly innocent in what happened between you and I think she believes that she can't apologize first because she thinks that you won't listen to her. You need to write so that she'll know that you're willing to talk to her. You don't have to apologize right away if you don't want to, but you do need to start repairing bridges." He gets up, his hand still in Marie's. "Come on, let's get out of the cold." Marie looked up at him, a large smile, the first she's had in three weeks, hidden behind her balaclava as joyful tears glistened at the edges of her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

The two of them headed back into the castle and had an early dinner in the Great Hall with the rest of the Weasley's. While the sight of Harry staring nearly resolutely as a gargoyle at the fireplace in the Great Hall was demoralizing, Marie was able to laugh at a few of Fred and George's jokes and even poked fun at Percy on several occasions. It felt nice to experience the simple pleasures of joy and humor again. So when the two of them went up to the common room with large mugs of hot chocolate, they were focusing on trying to enjoy the rest of the day. Try did not expect the sharp raping on one of the windows when they arrived.

"Oh my god!" Marie sprinted to the window and opened it, the harsh wind almost causing the Great Gray Owl to tumble into the room as it flew in. After closing the window with Ron's help, they went over to the owl that had set down by the fireplace. "How on earth were you able to get here through this storm? I know you're tough but you could've waited another day if you needed to deliver a letter." The owl blinked tiredly, a defiant gaze locked on Marie. It then moved its head towards the couch. Ron and Marie followed its view towards a cushion where two things rested, a massive envelope that seemed to be bursting at the seams and a 5.5"X8.5" package wrapped in red wrapping paper with white snowflakes. Ron, being closer to the couch, went over and picked up the envelope. "It's for you." He said as he handed the envelope to Marie. She looked at her name, which was spelled out in neat orderly script. 'Is this?' she thought. Her eyes flicked up to the top left of the envelope and her suspicions were confirmed.

_Eddward Marion Vincent, _

_2 Drummerton Court, _

_Peach Creek, Wisconsin, 54424_

"Oh my god! Please please please be what I think it is." She ripped open the envelope and withdrew two pages of folded printer paper. At the very top of the first page was the name _Nicolas Flamel_. As she skimmed down the page and the next one, she started to giggle. As she progressed further and further, the giggling got louder and a massive grin spread across her face. "Marie? Are you okay?" Ron asked with a bit of concern. She turned with resounding speed and wrapped Ron in a crushing hug and started to jump around the room. "YES! YES! YES! OVENMITT DID IT! HE DID IT! HE GOT THE INFO! HAHAHA! OH I CAN'T WAIT TO RUBS THIS IN MIONE'S FACE!" "Marie. Ribs. Cracking. Spine. Snapping." "Oh sorry." Marie said as he let him down. "I'm just so excited! All those nights of research are finally over!" Ron's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean?" "Yes, we finally have information about Nicolas Flamel!" Ron blinked and then started to laugh. "Oh thank Merlin, we no longer have to go to the library and search through boring tomes!" "All we have to do now is read just a few pieces of paper." Grinning, the two of them turned to the article.

"Okay, no wonder we couldn't find anything in those books about modern wizards, he was born back in 1330 in the fourteenth century. We weren't going to find anything there." "Great, so we basically spent the last six weeks of our lives wasting our time." Ron groused bitterly. "Hey, all we had was a name and we couldn't ask the librarian for help. Nobody can blame us for not finding anything with such limited information to start off with. Besides, it doesn't seem like he was that important. Or that interesting, to be honest. No children, didn't marry until he was thirty eight, moderately wealthy due to his wives previous two marriages, ran two shops as an independent scribe, donated regularly to the Catholic Church, even designed his own tombstone which is now housed in the Musee de Cluny. But he had to have been both interesting and important for Dumbledore to work with him, unless Dumbledore really liked creating medieval manuscripts. How old is Dumbledore anyway?" "I think he turned 126 earlier this year." "What really?! Then how in Christ's thorny crown did Flamel live long enough to actually meet him. There's got to be something we're missing."

It was at that moment that she got a better look at the third section. 'Posthumous reputation as an Alchemist?' She quickly read through the first paragraph, her eyes widening as she progressed through it. "Ron, you got to listen to this! _Legendary accounts of Flamel's life are based on 17th century works, primarily 'Livre des figures hieroglyphiques'. The essence of his reputation are claims that he succeeded at the goals of alchemy: that he made the Philosopher's Stone, which turns base metals into gold, and that he and his wife, Perenelle, achieved immortality through the Elixir of Life._" Marie put the papers down, frozen in shock. "Marie, do you think that those rumors might have some basis in fact?" Ron uttered in slight disbelief. "Harry said that the package that Hagrid withdrew was no more than five centimeters long. Do you think?" Marie asked in silent awe, the realization already already confirmed in her head. "Yeah. I think whatever that dog is guarding is the Philosopher's Stone."

The two of them sat in silent amazement as they let this information sooke in. "Wow." Marie stated as she leaned her head back into the couch. "No wonder Snape and Filch are after this. To have all the gold you want and to live forever." "Yeah, who on earth can resist something like that?" "Not to mention that with all of that gold they wouldn't have to deal with snot nosed kids that they hate anymore. They're practically trying to get their hands on the ultimate retirement fund." The two of them laid back on the couch, amazed at what they knew. "Geez. All the gold and years you could ever want. What do you think you would do with it if you had a Philosopher's Stone Ron?" Ron brushed his hand through his hair as he considered Marie's question. "Well, I'd probably buy the Chudley Cannons. I'm sure I'd put together a better team than the current ownership group. I'd also get a new house, new clothes." He then withdrew his wand. "Maybe a new wand as well. This used to be Charlie's and it never quite felt right with me. What about you?" "Me? I'd get a new house as well, put down a deposit for my college tuition. I'd probably get a cell phone, never had one of those before. Get a laptop and some art software, maybe an easel and a kiln. My own sink so that I can dispose of the chemicals I'm going to use for film development, a dark room, a film camera and a digital camera, a printing screen, ink, carving tools, a high pressure hose, a tub of liquid rust, about twenty copper plates, an ink press, ground, a 3-D printer, a laser printer, a sports car, some new clothes, a bike, actually a lot of things." She then sighed wistfully, a small smile on her face. "But the biggest thing I'd like to do is to travel the world. To go to every art museum in the world and study the works of the great masters. To see the greatest feats of architecture in the world and the treasures they store. To experience the culture of every country I can go to and see every important sight. With all the money in the world and all the time in the world, I'd be able to experience the breath of the world and all its wonders."

Ron grinned. "Sounds ambitious." Marie sighed. "Yeah, I guess it is. But hey, I can dream can't I?" "Heh, I suppose." Ron then picked up the package. "Got to really hand it to this Double-D guy, he really pulled through for us. Looks like he also sent you a late Christmas present." he said as he handed her the package. "Nah, I asked him to get a present for Runcorn and if there's an issue that I have with him is that whenever someone asks him for help he's never able to say no. I swear, that guy is going to wear himself out doing too many favors for people." She opened the package and pulled out a copy of _Of Mice and Men_. "See, just fulfilling a favor. He wouldn't send something to someone who's just an acquaintance…" she trailed off as she spotted another book. She pulled it out and took a look at the cover and read it completely. She opened the book and skimmed through the first chapter. She then closed and started to silently chuckle. "What? What's so funny?" Wordlessly, Marie handed him the book, her mouth in a pained closed smile as she struggled to keep herself from guffawing. Ron looked at the cover and read it out loud. "_The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott_". He opened the book and saw that written on the blank cover page in blue ink was this a message.

_Eddy and I thought that this would be a good resource for you to use in your research. If your friend likes the book we got her, please send me another request. I'm more than willing to get her more literature. I understand your worries about isolation, but I find that spending time with others tends to help me get out of my bad moods. I noticed that you are spending time with your fellow students and seem to be having a good time. I suggest talking to them about these feelings, you're not doing yourself any favors by suppressing them. If you would like to write to me again, I am willing to reply, though I'm not going to do your suggestions on "stupisd things". I suffer enough of those without seeking them out. Keep working and I guess I'll see you this summer._

_Sincerely, Double-D_

_P.S. Please don't write a love letter to me again, you're not very good at them. _

"Uh Marie, what is this about a love letter?" Ron asked. "That cheeky little a-hole." Marie chuckled as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. "He did this to get back at me for all the trouble I gave him when we were working on projects back in elementary school." "What did you do?" "Oh you know, flirted, joked, kissed him and tried to get him to touch my breast." "What was that last part?" "Uh, I didn't read the directions and caused some lab accidents. He gets really annoyed when his work is delayed." she responded with a nervous look in her eyes. "I can see that. I swear I felt that I aged 100 years trying to find out who Flamel is. I can only imagine how long that this guy took." "Oh it likely took him less than five minutes." Ron looked at her with incredulity. "WHAT?!" "Yeah. All thanks to the internet." Ron was now completely confused. "What the bloody hell is an internet?" "Think of it as a giant library filled with every bit of information you can think of and you can access it with little more than a few words written in a search bar. And all of it is practically instant as long as you have the right equipment." "Equipment?" "Computers." Ron is about to ask when Marie interrupts him. "I'll explain later."

Ron shook his head as he picked up the book again. "So is this important for what we need to know about Flamel." Marie shook her head in the negative. "Not really. It's just a bit of fiction for fun. There might be a deeper meaning if you look into it deeper, but it's just a story that people like. We muggles have tons of stories like this, going back thousands of years." Marie then got a slightly depressed look on her face. "Least he bothered to send a Christmas present." "What? You mean your family didn't send a present?" "No, well at least I don't think so. I didn't find one in the pile I had on Christmas morning." "Did you search for it?" "Well no, not initially. I wasn't really focusing on who sent what when I was stacking them to carry them down here. I only tried to find it after I came down stairs and tripped...over the...ottoman." Marie got up off the couch and got on the floor in front of one of the arm chairs. "It's still here somewhere. Help me find it." Ron quickly got off the couch and started to search the room, under the desks and chairs and couch as they tried to find the illusive present. "Ah ha! Found it!" Ron shouted, using his long gangly arms to extract a rectangular box from under the Christmas tree. "It must've slid under here when you tripped." Marie, who had been checking behind the wood container, moved to where Ron is and grabbed the, where written on the package in black sharpie were two phrases.

_To: Marie, From: Your Family._

"It feels heavier than I thought it would." Marie commented as she fell into an armchair. With a sigh to steel her nerves, she ripped off the wrapping paper and opened up the box. Underneath it was actually three packages. The first was a record player which didn't have a plug for some reason, which initially confused Marie until she pulled out a set of forty AA batteries. 'Oh so it's battery operated.' she thought as she removed the record player. She then gasped. "What? What is it?" Marie said nothing as she withdrew a record. It was a 12 inch vinyl record covered by a tan cover. On the front of it was a bearded man dancing with a woman on top of a chair and written across it with dark gold letters was the word _Rumours_. Marie smiled, her eyes misting with tears as she rested her head against the cover. "Thank you Mom. Thank you so very much." Ron placed his hand on her shoulder. "I take it you like it." Marie moved the record player over to the coffee table, tore open the battery case and placed two batteries inside the case. She then flipped the album to show Ron. "Before my family moved to Peach Creek, we used to live in a city called Chicago. We lived in a run down apartment in Englewood. To afford the rent my mom would work multiple jobs. One of those jobs was at a jukebox diner. We would sometimes go to the restaurant to see her after school. Now, a jukebox is a music box that holds multiple songs and records. And this was my favorite album to listen to. I would listen to this all the time whenever my sisters and I went there. When we moved, there weren't any diners I could go to listen to and we couldn't afford a cassette player or a CD player and the car radio is broken. This is the first time I will listen to this album in three years."

Marie carefully removed the record from the package. Carefully balancing the black record between her fingers, she placed it on the phonograph. She checked the song listing and carefully placed the needle on the record and turned it on. At that moment, the melodic beat of the drums and minimalistic guitar flowed out of the speakers, followed by the ethereal keyboard chords and then the soothing voice of Stevie Nicks singing about letting someone go while warning about the loneliness that will come when you're looking back on what had been. It was just as good as she remembered it, a slow dance song about the loss of love because of insurmountable differences. "God, I can not tell you how much I've missed listening to this. I've asked my family for this album every year for three years and to finally have it…" "Well I will admit, this is better than the Celestenia Warbeck my mum always listens to." The two of them listened to _Dreams _and the following subsequent songs on side A before it receded into nothingness and the needle released from the record. "Is that it? Only six songs?" "No, there are five more songs on the other side of the album." Marie then flipped the album over and placed it on side B. "I'm going to have to be very careful with this. These records are extremely fragile and I don't know how to repair it if it gets so much as a scratch on it."

She placed the needle back on and _The Chain_ started up. As the guitar started to flow, Ron spoke. "We'll ask Fred and George about that spell later. It shouldn't be too hard for us to figure it out." Marie smiled before she hurried upstairs. She returned clutching a long roll of parchment, a few quills and an unopened bottle of ink. "Come on." she gestured with her head towards a desk. "I'm going to need some help with this and I'm pretty sure that Mom will like to hear from one of my friends." Ron grinned as the two of them headed over to the table as outside the window the snow started to calm and the storm began to cease.

** God this took a long time to finish. You can't see this but this is about eighteen pages of work including the foreword. Still probably would've gotten this done sooner if I didn't end up addicted to Netflix's two seasons of MST3K, so that's also partially to blame. Also Lego Indiana Jones and Napoleon: Total War but I do need breaks. Expect to see the next chapter in two weeks. It will be shorter this time and I'll be spending a lot of time primarily focusing on writing more outlines. Stay safe, remember to vote and thank you for your time.**


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